Deterioration of bone microstructure by aging and menopause in Japanese healthy women: analysis by HR-pQCT

Abstract

Objective: Second-generation high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) has provide higher quality of bone images with a voxel size of 61 µm, enabling direct measurements of trabecular thickness. In addition to the standard parameters, the non-metric trabecular parameters such as trabecular morphology (plate to rod-like structures), connectivity, and anisotropy can also be analyzed. The purpose of this study is to investigate deterioration of bone microstructure in healthy Japanese women by measuring standard and non-metric parameters using HR-pQCT. Methods: Study participants were 61 healthy Japanese women (31-70 years). The distal radius and tibia were scanned using second-generation HR-pQCT, and microstructures of trabecular and cortical bone were measured. Non-metric trabecular parameters included structure model index (SMI), trabecular bone pattern factor (TBPf), connectivity density (Conn.D), number of nodes (N.Nd/TV), degree of anisotropy (DA), and star volume of marrow space (V*ms). Estimated bone strength was evaluated by micro finite element analysis. Associations between bone microstructure, estimated bone strength, age, and menopause were analyzed. 2 Results: Trabecular number declined with age, and trabecular separation increased. SMI and TBPf increased, Conn.D and N.Nd/TV declined, and V*ms increased. Cortical BMD and thickness declined with age, and porosity increased. Stiffness and failure load decreased with age. Cortical thickness and estimated bone strength were affected by menopause. Cortical thickness was most associated with estimated bone strength. Conclusions: Trabecular and cortical bone microstructure were deteriorated markedly with age. Cortical thickness decreased after menopause and was most related to bone strength. Non-metric parameters give additional information about osteoporotic changes of trabecular bone.

Micro-computed tomography assessment of bone structure in aging mice

“…S1 ), which showed that the thickness and length of trabecular bones in the femur, tibiae, and vertebrae were decreased with aging in both male and female mice. Previous studies showed that the bone marrow in the femur and tibiae changes to yellow marrow, which is composed of adipocytes, with aging more drastically in female mice 44 , 45 . In agreement with these findings, the femoral and tibial bone marrow changed to yellow marrow in the femurs of female mice older than 18 months and in the tibia of female mice older than 12 months, whereas in male mice it remained as red marrow in these bones until the age of 22 months.…”

Effect of the combination of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 and higher level of calcium and phosphorus in the diets on bone 3D structural development in pullets

“…The correspondence of the SMI, which is an index evaluating whether trabecular bone is rod-like or plate-like, and a smaller value means a more plate-like structure ( Hildebrand & Rüegsegger, 1997 ) and TPF, which is an index evaluating rod-like, plate-like, or honeycomb-like structure, and a small value means a more plate-like to honeycomb-like structure ( Hahn et al, 1992 ), resembles a positive outcome when both parameters are lower as observed in this current study. This correlation of having both SMI and TPF lower also results in increasing overall trabecular structure by increasing connectivity ( Chiba et al, 2010 ; Yokota et al, 2020 ). Furthermore, for both SMI and TPF, the smaller values indicate the positive plate-like or honeycomb-like structure also results in less osteoporosis cases vs. the rod-like structure increases osteoporosis incidences ( Felder et al, 2020 ).…”

Comparison of bone microstructures via high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography in patients with different stages of chronic kidney disease before and after starting hemodialysis

“…The most important predictive factor for bone fracture in a previous study was Tb.BV/TV of the tibia [ 22 ]. In another study, the strongest predictive factor for bone strength was Ct.Th [ 30 ]. Both these factors were impaired in the CKD patients of this study.…”