Structure of long bones of rats and mice fed a low calcium diet

21-day-old rats and mice were fed a low-calcium diet (0.02% Ca) or a normal diet (0.5% Ca) for two weeks. Administration of the low-calcium diet resulted in greater decreases in femur ash content and serum calcium in rats than in mice. Microscopic examination revealed that metatarsal bones from a majority of the rats fed a low-calcium diet displayed moderate or severe osteoporotic changes whereas bones from mice were either normal or displayed only slight osteoporotic changes under the same experimental conditions. These results indicate that mice are better able to adapt to a low-calcium diet than are rats of the same age.