Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 May 7;22(1):427.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-021-04298-2.

Tributyltin perturbs femoral cortical architecture and polar moment of inertia in rat

Mingjun Li  1 , Dong Cheng  2 , Hui Li  2 , Wenhuan Yao  2 , Dongmei Guo  1 , Shu'e Wang  1 , Jiliang Si  3
Affiliations

Tributyltin perturbs femoral cortical architecture and polar moment of inertia in rat

Mingjun Li et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Tributyltin, a well-known endocrine disruptor, is widely used in agriculture and industry. Previous studies have shown that tributyltin could cause deleterious effects on bone health by impairing the adipo-osteogenic balance in bone marrow.

Methods: To investigate further the effects of tributyltin on bone, weaned male SD rats were treated with tributyltin (0.5, 5 or 50 μg·kg- 1) or corn oil by gavage once every 3 days for 60 days in this study. Then, we analyzed the effects of tributyltin on geometry, the polar moment of inertia, mineral content, relative abundances of mRNA from representative genes related to adipogenesis and osteogenesis, serum calcium ion and inorganic phosphate levels.

Results: Micro-computed tomography analysis revealed that treatment with 50 μg·kg- 1 tributyltin caused an obvious decrease in femoral cortical cross sectional area, marrow area, periosteal circumference and derived polar moment of inertia in rats. However, other test results showed that exposure to tributyltin resulted in no significant changes in the expression of genes detected, femoral cancellous architecture, ash content, as well as serum calcium ion and inorganic phosphate levels.

Conclusions: Exposure to a low dose of tributyltin from the prepubertal to adult stage produced adverse effects on skeletal architecture and strength.

Keywords: Adipogenesis; Bone geometry; Micro-computed tomography; Osteogenesis; Polar moment of inertia; Tributyltin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Effects of TBT exposure on body weight. The body weight of rats was not affected by TBT exposure at all time points, n = 10
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Effect of TBT on genes expression related to adipogenesis and osteogenesis. Expression of PPARγ (a), Fabp4 (b), Angptl4 (c), ALP (d), OC (e) and Runx2 (f) under different treatments. Data were presented as mean ± SEM, n = 5, *P<0.05, compared with control
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Effects of TBT on femoral metaphysis of rat. Representative μCT images of trabecular architecture in the distal metaphysis form control and the 50 μg·kg− 1 TBT rats (a), BV/TV (b), Conn. D (c), SMI (d), Tb. N (e), Tb. Th (f), Tb. Sp (g). Data were presented from individual rat, and the mean is indicated by a line; n = 4
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Effect of TBT on femoral diaphysis of rat. Representative μCT images of femoral diaphysis from control and the 50 μg·kg− 1 TBT group (a), Ct. Ar (b), Ma. Ar (c), TCS. Ar (d), Ct.th (e), Ps. Cf (f), Ec. Ct (g). Data were presented from individual rat, and the mean is indicated by a line; n = 4, *P < 0.05, compared with control
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Effect of TBT on polar moment of inertia (Jo). Data are presented from individual rat, and the mean is indicated by a line; n = 4, *P < 0.05, compared with control
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Effect of TBT on femoral ash content of rat. Data were presented as mean ± SEM, n = 5
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Effects of TBT on serum calcium and phosphorus of rats. Expression of serum calcium (a) and phosphorus (b) under different treatments. Data were presented as mean ± SEM, n = 10
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Rachner TD, Khosla S, Hofbauer LC. Osteoporosis: now and the future. Lancet. 2011;377(9773):1276–1287. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62349-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Porter JL, Varacallo M: Osteoporosis. [Updated 2020 Nov 21] In: StatPearls [Internet] Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan- Available from: https://www.ncbinlmnihgov/books/NBK441901/2020.
    1. Berry SD, Kiel DP, Colón-Emeric C. Hip fractures in older adults in 2019. Jama. 2019;321(22):2231–2232. doi: 10.1001/jama.2019.5453. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Seeman E. Pathogenesis of bone fragility in women and men. Lancet. 2002;359(9320):1841–1850. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08706-8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Prada D, López G, Solleiro-Villavicencio H, Garcia-Cuellar C, Baccarelli AA. Molecular and cellular mechanisms linking air pollution and bone damage. Environ Res. 2020;185(109465):109465. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109465. - DOI - PMC - PubMed