Changes in bone geometry and microarchitecture caused by intermittent administration of PTH: comparison with those by exercise load *
There have been several studies showing that periodical intermittent medication with parathyroid hormone（PTH）causes increases in cancellous bone mass. However, there have been almost no reports comparing the effects of periodical intermittent PTH medication on bone microarchitecture with changes caused by physiological stimulation such as exercise load. In this study, we compared the effects of these two interventions on the microarchitecturural deterioration of femoral cancellous bone associated with unloading, using micro-computed tomography（micro-CT）, and the effects of PTH administration and motion loading on improvement of the deteriorated structure. In the study, 32 eight-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: 1） a control group without tail suspension（CON）, 2） a control recovery group after suspension（S+C）, 3） a suspension/PTH group（S+P）, and 4） a suspension/jumping exercise group（S+J）. Periodical intermittent human PTH（1 - 34）was given periodically to the S+P group rats at a dose of 75 μg/kg/day five times a week for five weeks, after two weeks of exercise with suspension of the tail. The rats in the S+J group performed 40 cm-high jumping 10 times/day five times a week for five weeks. After this conditioning, upon examination, bilateral femurs were removed and the right distal metaphysis was scanned using micro-CT to obtain images of the cancellous bone region of the femur. Based on the tomographic data, indices of cancellous bone microarchitecture was the index of trabecular bone structure were determined by using three-dimensional image analysis system. In addition, to examine the geometric properties of the diaphysis, mid-portion images of the bone shaft of the left femur were obtained by micro- CT, and then the mechanical bone strength of the left femur was determined by performing a three-point bending test. Compared to the S+C group, the S+P and S+J groups showed significantly higher bone volume, bone surface mass values, superficial bone area, bone volume fraction rates, fractal dimensions, connectivity density, trabecular thickness, trabecular bone number and degrees of anisotropy. They conversely showed significantly lower bone volume ratio values, trabecular bone separation, trabecular bone pattern factors, and structural model indices. However, the area values, thickness, and strength of femoral diaphysis cortical bone in the S+J group were significantly higher than those in the S+C group. The S+P group showed no significant difference other than cortical bone thickness. These data suggest that periodical intermittent medication with PTH could cause changes in the fine structure of the femoral metaphysic cancellous bone microarchitecture that are similar to changes caused by jumping exercise, but the effects of PTH seem to be small on the geometric properties and bone strength of the cortical bone. (Accepted on October 8, 2009)
