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The role of postnatal estrogen deficiency on cranium dimensions

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Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study was investigate the cranium dimensions of adult female rats, who suffered estrogen deficiency during the prepubertal stage, to assess the impact of estrogen deficiency on craniofacial morphology.

Material and methods

Twenty-two female Wistar rats were divided into ovariectomy (OVX) (n = 11) and sham-operated control (n = 11) groups. Bilateral ovariectomy were performed in both groups at 21 days old (prepubertal stage), and rats were euthanized at an age of 63 days (post-pubertal stage). Micro-CT scans were performed with rat skulls, and the cranium morphometric landmark measurements were taken in the dorsal, lateral, and ventral view positions. Differences in measurements between the OVX and sham control groups were assessed using t test with an established alpha error of 5%.

Results

The measures of the rats’ skull showed that the inter-zygomatic arch width and anterior cranial base length were significantly larger in OVX group (p = 0.020 and p = 0.050, respectively), whereas the length of parietal bone was significantly higher in the sham group (p = 0.026). For the remaining measurements no significant differences between groups were detected (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

This study provides evidence that ovariectomized rats had alterations in cranial bone dimensions, demonstrating that estrogens during puberty are important for skull morphology.

Clinical relevance

To understand the role of estrogen on the postnatal cranium development will impact the clinical diagnose and therapy during childhood and adolescence.

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Acknowledgments

We thank gratefully the RCBE (Regensburg Center of Biomedical Engineering) for the support by the μCT facility and Dr. Birgit Striegl for performing the μCT analysis, and we acknowledge the support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in frame of the program “Forschungsgeräte” (INST 102/11-1 FUGG).

Funding

Support for this work was provided by FAPESP (the State of São Paulo Research Foundation, number 2015/06866-5), and by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001, and Alexander-von-Humboldt-Foundation (Küchler/Kirschneck accepted in July 4, 2019) for funding and support.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Rafaela Mariana de Lara, Matheus Caires dos Santos and Marjorie Ayumi Omori contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health Sciences, Universidade Positivo, Rua Prof. Pedro Viriato Parigot de Souza, 5300-Campo Comprido, Curitiba, PR, 80060-000, Brazil

    Rafaela Mariana de Lara, Matheus Caires dos Santos & João Armando Brancher

  2. Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Avenida do Café, Ribeirao Preto, SP, 14040-904, Brazil

    Marjorie Ayumi Omori, Paulo Nelson-Filho & Erika Calvano Küchler

  3. School of Dentistry, Univille University, R. Paulo Malschitzki, Joinville, SC, 89219-710, Brazil

    Flares Baratto-Filho

  4. Department of Orthodontics, University of Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauss-Allee 11, 93053, Regensburg, Germany

    Agnes Schroeder, Erika Calvano Küchler & Christian Kirschneck

  5. Anatomy Department, Federal University of Paraná, Rua XV de Novembro, 1299 - Centro, Curitiba, PR, 80060-000, Brazil

    Maria Fernanda Pioli Torres

Authors
  1. Rafaela Mariana de Lara
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  2. Matheus Caires dos Santos
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  10. Christian Kirschneck
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Maria Fernanda Pioli Torres or Christian Kirschneck.

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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee.

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de Lara, R.M., dos Santos, M.C., Omori, M.A. et al. The role of postnatal estrogen deficiency on cranium dimensions. Clin Oral Invest 25, 3249–3255 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-020-03655-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-020-03655-0

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