Anabolism. Low mechanical signals strengthen long bones.
Although the skeleton's adaptability to load-bearing has been recognized for over a century, the specific mechanical components responsible for strengthening it have not been identified. Here we show that after mechanically stimulating the hindlimbs of adult sheep on a daily basis for a year with 20-minute bursts of very-low-magnitude, high-frequency vibration, the density of the spongy (trabecular) bone in the proximal femur is significantly increased (by 34.2%) compared to controls. As the strain levels generated by this treatment are three orders of magnitude below those that damage bone tissue, this anabolic, non-invasive stimulus may have potential for treating skeletal conditions such as osteoporosis.
Rubin
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C
Musculo-Skeletal Research Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-2580, USA. clinton.rubin@sunysb.edu
Turner
A S
AS
Bain
S
S
Mallinckrodt
C
C
McLeod
K
K
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D015519:Bone Density; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur; D006614:Hindlimb; D012756:Sheep; D014732:Vibration; D016474:Weight-Bearing