title: The Lichfield bone study: the skeletal response to exercise in healthy young men.
abstract: The skeletal response to short-term exercise training remains poorly described. We thus studied the lower limb skeletal response of 723 Caucasian male army recruits to a 12-wk training regime. Femoral bone volume was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging, bone ultrastructure by quantitative ultrasound (QUS), and bone mineral density (BMD) using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the hip. Left hip BMD increased with training (mean ± SD: 0.85 ± 3.24, 2.93 ± 4.85, and 1.89 ± 2.85% for femoral neck, Ward's area, and total hip, respectively; all P < 0.001). Left calcaneal broadband ultrasound attenuation rose 3.57 ± 0.5% (P < 0.001), and left and right femoral cortical volume by 1.09 ± 4.05 and 0.71 ± 4.05%, respectively (P = 0.0001 and 0.003), largely through the rise in periosteal volume (0.78 ± 3.14 and 0.59 ± 2.58% for right and left, respectively, P < 0.001) with endosteal volumes unchanged. Before training, DXA and QUS measures were independent of limb dominance. However, the dominant femur had higher periosteal (25,991.49 vs. 2,5572 mm(3), P < 0.001), endosteal (6,063.33 vs. 5,983.12 mm(3), P = 0.001), and cortical volumes (19,928 vs. 19,589.56 mm(3), P = 0.001). Changes in DXA, QUS, and magnetic resonance imaging measures were independent of limb dominance. We show, for the first time, that short-term exercise training in young men is associated not only with a rise in human femoral BMD, but also in femoral bone volume, the latter largely through a periosteal response.
authors: UCL Centre for Health and Human Performance, University College London Hospitals, London.
authors: Kyriacos I
authors: KI
authors: Eleftheriou
authors: Jaikirty S
authors: JS
authors: Rawal
authors: Anthony
authors: A
authors: Kehoe
authors: Laurence E
authors: LE
authors: James
authors: John R
authors: JR
authors: Payne
authors: James R
authors: JR
authors: Skipworth
authors: Zudin A
authors: ZA
authors: Puthucheary
authors: Fotios
authors: F
authors: Drenos
authors: Dudley J
authors: DJ
authors: Pennell
authors: Mike
authors: M
authors: Loosemore
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: World
authors: Steve E
authors: SE
authors: Humphries
authors: Fares S
authors: FS
authors: Haddad
authors: Hugh E
authors: HE
authors: Montgomery
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D015519:Bone Density; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055815:Young Adult