RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe effects of acupuncture serum of ovariectomized rats on the number of in vitro cultural osteoclast of newborn rats.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty 12-month-old SD female rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: sham-operation control group, ovariectomized (model) group, acupuncture prevention group and acupuncture treatment group. Osteoclasts isolated from long bone of the newborn SD rat were cultured on 24-well culture plates with DMEM containing 10% the test serum. Forty-eight hours later, the osteoclasts were stained with tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) and the number of TRAP-positive multinucleated cells were counted.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The number of TRAP-positive multinucleated cells in the model group significantly increased as compared with the sham-operation control group (P < 0.01), and in the acupuncture prevention group and the acupuncture treatment group significantly declined compared with the model group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupuncture serum can equally reduce the number of osteoclasts in the two group.</p>