Age-related changes of vertical and horizontal lumbar vertebral trabecular 3D bone microstructure is different in women and men

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Thomsen, Jesper Skovhus¹; Niklassen, Andreas Steenholt¹; Ebbesen, Ebbe Nils¹; Brüel, Annemarie¹

Age-related changes of vertical and horizontal lumbar vertebral trabecular 3D bone microstructure is different in women and men

Bone. November 2013;57(1):47-55

©2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Affiliations

¹Department of Biomedicine — Anatomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Abstract and keywords

The study presents a 3D method for subdividing a trabecular network into horizontal and vertical oriented bone. This method was used to investigate the age related changes of the bone volume fraction and thickness of horizontal and vertical trabeculae in human lumbar vertebral bone estimated with unbiased 3D methods in women and men over a large age-range.

The study comprised second lumbar vertebral body bone samples from 40 women (aged 21.7–96.4 years, median 56.6 years) and 39 men (aged 22.6–94.6 years, median 55.6 years). The bone samples were μCT scanned and the 3D microstructure was quantified. A voxel based algorithm inspecting the local neighborhood is presented and used to segment the trabecular network into horizontal and vertical oriented bone.

For both women and men BV/TV decreased significantly with age, Tb.Th* was independent of age, while SMI increased significantly with age. Vertical (BV.vert/TV) and horizontal (BV.horz/TV) bone volume fraction decreased significantly with age for both sexes. BV.vert/TV decreased significantly faster with age for women than for men. Vertical (Tb.Th*.vert) and horizontal (Tb.Th*.horz) trabecular thickness were independent of age, while Tb.Th*.horz/Tb.Th*.vert decreased significantly with age for both sexes. Additionally, the 95th percentile of the trabecular thickness distribution increased significantly with age for vertical trabeculae in women, whereas it was independent of age in men.

In conclusion, we have shown that vertical and horizontal oriented bone density decreases with age in both women and men, and that vertical oriented bone is lost more quickly in women than in men. Furthermore, vertical and horizontal trabecular thickness were independent of age, whereas the horizontal to vertical trabecular thickness ratio decreased significantly with age indicating a relatively more pronounced thinning of horizontal trabeculae. Finally, the age-related loss of trabecular elements appeared to result in a compensatory hypertrophy of vertical trabeculae in women, but not in men.

Keywords: Bone μCT; Bone structure; Static histomorphometry; Human vertebra; Sex differe
Links

DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2013.07.025

PubMed: 23899636

WoS: 000325742600007
History

Received: 2013-04-09

Revised: 2013-07-15

Accepted: 2013-07-16

Online: 2013-07-27

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Year	Entry
2016	Bach-Gansmo FL, Brüel A, Jensen MV, Ebbesen EN, Birkedal H, Thomsen JS. Osteocyte lacunar properties and cortical microstructure in human iliac crest as a function of age and sex. Bone. October 2016;91:11-19.
2020	Creecy A, Uppuganti S, Girard MR, Schlunk SG, Amah C, Granke M, Unal M, Does MD, Nyman JS. The age-related decrease in material properties of BALB/c mouse long bones involves alterations to the extracellular matrix. Bone. January 2020;130:115126.
2020	McKay M, Jackman TM, Hussein AI, Guermazi A, Liu J, Morgan EF. Association of vertebral endplate microstructure with bone strength in men and women. Bone. February 2020;131:115147.
2020	Januddi F, Harun MN, Syahrom A, Bakri A, Alkbir MFM. Effect of including periodic boundary condition on the fatigue behaviour of cancellous bone. Int J Integr Eng. 2020;12(5):70-80.
2014	Zhou B, Liu XS, Wang J, Lu XL, Fields AJ, Guo XE. Dependence of mechanical properties of trabecular bone on plate-rod microstructure determined by individual trabecula segmentation (ITS). J Biomech. February 7, 2014;47(3):702-708.
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2020	Lamarche BA. Morphometric Changes With Age in Human Trabecular Bone Structural Units (BSU) of the Lumbar Spine [Master's thesis]. Sudbury, ON: Laurentian University; 2020.