Abstract: The incidence of male osteoporosis is rising year by year with the aging of the population. The serious consequence of osteoporosis is fracture. Bone tissue is very sensitive to sex hormones，which means the essential roles of sex hormones in the development of male skeleton. It has been shown that the estrogen transformed from androgen by aromatase plays more important roles in maintaining bone mass in men than androgen itself. Both serum free testosterone level and serum free estradiol level lowered little by little in middle and old aged men. Testosterone supplemental therapy （ＴＳＴ） ｉs advised for those men with the partial androgen deficiency in the aging male. The selective androgen receptor modulators may attenuate the side effects of TST. The selective estrogen receptor modulators have a protective effect on bone tissue. Those estrogen receptor modulators have been used to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis, suggesting that they could be used in male osteoporosis.

Key words: Osteoporosis, Estrogens, Androgens, Testosterone, Gonadal steroid hormones