Composition and characteristics of trabecular bone in osteoporosis and osteoarthritis

Iskandar Tamimi*, Arthur Rodríguez González Cortes, Juan Manuel Sánchez-Siles, Jerome L. Ackerman, David González-Quevedo, Ángel García, Farid Yaghoubi, Mohamed Nur Abdallah, Hazem Eimar, Ammar Alsheghri, Marco Laurenti, Ahmad Al-Subaei, Enrique Guerado, David García-de-Quevedo, Faleh Tamimi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Bone strength depends on multiple factors such as bone density, architecture and composition turnover. However, the role these factors play in osteoporotic fractures is not well understood. Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze trabecular bone architecture, and its crystal and organic composition in humans, by comparing samples taken from patients who had a hip fracture (HF) and individuals with hip osteoarthritis (HOA). Methods: The study included 31 HF patients and 42 cases of HOA who underwent joint replacement surgery between 1/1/2013 and 31/12/2013. Trabecular bone samples were collected from the femoral heads and analyzed using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, micro-CT, and solid-state high-resolution magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) spectroscopy. Results: No differences in proton or phosphorus concentration were found between the two groups using 1H single pulse, 31P single pulse, 31P single pulse with proton decoupling NMR spectroscopy, in hydroxyapatite (HA) c-axis or a-axis crystal length. Bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), and bone mineral density (BMD) were higher in the HO group than in the HF group [28.6% ± 10.5 vs 20.3% ± 6.6 (p = 0.026); 2.58 mm−1 ± 1.57 vs 1.5 mm−1 ± 0.79 (p = 0.005); and 0.39 g/cm2 ± 0.10 vs. 0.28 g/cm2 ± 0.05 (p = 0.002), respectively]. The trabecular separation (Tp.Sp) was lower in the HO group 0.42 mm ± 0.23 compared with the HF group 0.58 mm ± 0.27 (p = 0.036). In the HO group, BMD was correlated with BV/TV (r = 0.704, p < 0.001), BMC (r = 0.853, p < 0.001), Tb.N (r = 0.653, p < 0.001), Tb.Sp (−0.561, p < 0.001) and 1H concentration (−0.580, p < 0.001) in the HO group. BMD was not correlated with BV/TV, Tb.Sp, Tb.Th, Tb.N, Tb.PF, 1H concentration or HA crystal size in the HF group. Conclusions: Patients with HO who did not sustain previous hip fractures had a higher femoral head BMD, BV/TV, and Tb.N than HF patients. In HO patients, BMD was positively correlated with the BV/TV and Tb.N and negatively correlated with the femoral head organic content and trabecular separation. Interestingly, these correlations were not found in HF patients with relatively lower bone densities. Therefore, osteoporotic patients with similar low bone densities could have significant microstructural differences. No differences were found between the two groups at a HA crystal level.

Original languageEnglish
Article number115558
JournalBone
Volume140
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

  • Crystal
  • Femoral head bone fractures
  • Hydroxyapatite
  • Micro-computed tomography
  • Nuclear magnetic resonance
  • Osteoporosis
  • Structure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Physiology
  • Histology

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