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Micro-morphological properties of osteons reveal changes in cortical bone stability during aging, osteoporosis, and bisphosphonate treatment in women

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Abstract

Summary

We analyzed morphological characteristics of osteons along with the geometrical indices of individual osteonal mechanical stability in young, healthy aged, untreated osteoporotic, and bisphosphonate-treated osteoporotic women. Our study revealed significant intergroup differences in osteonal morphology and osteocyte lacunae indicating different remodeling patterns with implications for fracture susceptibility.

Introduction

Bone remodeling is the key process in bone structural reorganization, and its alterations lead to changes in bone mechanical strength. Since osteons reflect different bone remodeling patterns, we hypothesize that the femoral cortices of females under miscellaneous age, disease and treatment conditions will display distinct osteonal morphology and osteocyte lacunar numbers along with different mechanical properties.

Methods

The specimens used in this study were collected at autopsy from 35 female donors (young group, n = 6, age 32 ± 8 years; aged group, n = 10, age 79 ± 9 years; osteoporosis group, n = 10, age 81 ± 9 years; and bisphosphonate group, n = 9, age 81 ± 7 years). Von Kossa-modified stained femoral proximal diaphyseal sections were evaluated for osteonal morphometric parameters and osteocyte lacunar data. Geometrical indices of osteonal cross-sections were calculated to assess the mechanical stability of individual osteons, in terms of their resistance to compression, bending, and buckling.

Results

The morphological assessment of osteons and quantification of their osteocyte lacunae revealed significant differences between the young, aged, osteoporosis and bisphosphonate-treated groups. Calculated osteonal geometric indices provided estimates of the individual osteons’ resistance to compression, bending and buckling based on their size. In particular, the osteons in the bisphosphonate-treated group presented improved osteonal geometry along with increased numbers of osteocyte lacunae that had been formerly impaired due to aging and osteoporosis.

Conclusions

The data derived from osteons (as the basic structural units of the cortical bone) in different skeletal conditions can be employed to highlight structural factors contributing to the fracture susceptibility of various groups of individuals.

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Notes

  1. A limitation of this framework is the fact that the osteons are embedded in the bone matrix and fully surrounded by interstitial bone and other osteons; thus, the osteons in bone should be considered as an element in a complex composite [29], where the mechanical properties are influenced not only by the properties of the osteon but also by the surrounding matrix [30]. Further studies are required to quantify the distribution of osteons in the matrix to better understand the contributions of the interstitial bone.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Petar Milovanovic is a fellow of the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst—German Academic Exchange Service; A/11/83161) and Serbian Ministry of Science (III45005). Dr. Björn Busse is a fellow of the DFG—Emmy Noether program (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft—German Research Foundation; BU 2562/2-1). This study was supported by grants from the South-Eastern-European-Cooperation, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the consortium “BioAssett” and “Osteopath.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Osteology and Biomechanics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Lottestr. 59, 22529, Hamburg, Germany

    A. Bernhard, P. Milovanovic, E. A. Zimmermann, M. Hahn, M. Krause, S. Breer, M. Amling & B. Busse

  2. Laboratory for Anthropology, Institute of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Dr. Subotica 4/2, 11 000, Belgrade, Serbia

    P. Milovanovic, D. Djonic & M. Djuric

  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, 94720, CA, United States

    E. A. Zimmermann

  4. Department of Forensic Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

    K. Püschel

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  1. A. Bernhard
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  2. P. Milovanovic
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  3. E. A. Zimmermann
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  4. M. Hahn
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  5. D. Djonic
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  10. M. Amling
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  11. B. Busse
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Correspondence to B. Busse.

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A. Bernhard and P. Milovanovic contributed equally and therefore share first authorship.

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Bernhard, A., Milovanovic, P., Zimmermann, E.A. et al. Micro-morphological properties of osteons reveal changes in cortical bone stability during aging, osteoporosis, and bisphosphonate treatment in women. Osteoporos Int 24, 2671–2680 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-013-2374-x

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