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. 2008 Oct;23(10):1613-8.
doi: 10.1359/jbmr.080517.

Microarchitecture influences microdamage accumulation in human vertebral trabecular bone

Monique E Arlot  1 , Brigitte Burt-Pichat, Jean-Paul Roux, Deepak Vashishth, Mary L Bouxsein, Pierre D Delmas
Affiliations

Microarchitecture influences microdamage accumulation in human vertebral trabecular bone

Monique E Arlot et al. J Bone Miner Res. 2008 Oct.

Abstract

It has been suggested that accumulation of microdamage with age contributes to skeletal fragility. However, data on the age-related increase in microdamage and the association between microdamage and trabecular microarchitecture in human vertebral cancellous bone are limited. We quantified microdamage in cancellous bone from human lumbar (L(2)) vertebral bodies obtained from 23 donors 54-93 yr of age (8 men and 15 women). Damage was measured using histologic techniques of sequential labeling with chelating agents and was related to 3D microarchitecture, as assessed by high-resolution microCT. There were no significant differences between sexes, although women tended to have a higher microcrack density (Cr.Dn) than men. Cr.Dn increased exponentially with age (r = 0.65, p < 0.001) and was correlated with bone volume fraction (BV/TV; r = -0.55; p < 0.01), trabecular number (Tb.N; r = -0.56 p = 0.008), structure model index (SMI; r = 0.59; p = 0.005), and trabecular separation (Tb.Sp; r = 0.59; p < 0.009). All architecture parameters were strongly correlated with each other and with BV/TV. Stepwise regression showed that SMI was the best predictor of microdamage, explaining 35% of the variance in Cr.Dn and 20% of the variance in diffuse damage accumulation. In addition, microcrack length was significantly greater in the highest versus lowest tertiles of SMI. In conclusion, in human vertebral cancellous bone, microdamage increases with age and is associated with low BV/TV and a rod-like trabecular architecture.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Representative micrographs of a linear microcrack (A and B) and diffuse damage (C and D) under brightfield (A and C) and laser scanning confocal (B and D) microscopy.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
Variation of linear microcrack density as a function of donor age in human vertebral cancellous bone.
FIG. 3
FIG. 3
Variation of diffuse damage density as a function of donor age in human vertebral cancellous bone.
FIG. 4
FIG. 4
Crack density (left) and crack length (right) according to SMI tertiles in human vertebral cancellous bone.
FIG. 5
FIG. 5
μCT images of two cores of human vertebral cancellous bone, the left one with a high value of SMI (rod-like structure) and the right one with a low value of SMI (plate-like structure).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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