Objective:To study early preventive effect of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on bone loss in ovariectomized (OVX) female rats. Method:Twelve-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats,were divided into 3 groups:group A received intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/(kg-d) EGCG 3 days after bilateral ovariectomy for 12 consecutive weeks;group B received bilateral ovariectomy alone;group C,received a sham operation. At the end of the experiment (24 weeks old),the tibias and the femurs were harvested for:① micro-CT scanning and measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) and bone morphological parameters:trabecular total bone volume (TV),bone volume,(BV),BV/TV,mean trabecular thickness (Tb.Th),mean trabecular number (Tb.N) and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp),cortical thickness,and cortical BV/TV;②The HE staining of bone tissues from female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Results:According to the analysis of Micro-CT,the BMD and BV/TV of group A were significantly higher than the OVX group (P < 0.05). The trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) of group A was significantly lower than for group B (P < 0.05). There were no significant difference among 3 groups of the rest bone morphological parameters (P > 0.05). Bone histological studies indicated that trabecular bone was denser in group C,and the bone morphological status of group A was intermediate between groups A and C. Conclusion:EGCG had a positive effect on mitigating bone loss in OVX rats. Early stage supplementation of EGCG at a dose of 10 mg/(kg-d) after the onset of ovariectomy did not entirely eliminate bone loss.