title: Distributional variations in trabecular architecture of the mandibular bone: an in vivo micro-CT analysis in rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of trabecular thickness and trabecular separation on modulating the trabecular architecture of the mandibular bone in ovariectomized rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen 12-week-old adult female Wistar rats were divided into an ovariectomy group (OVX) and a sham-ovariectomy group (sham). Five months after the surgery, the mandibles from 14 rats (seven OVX and seven sham) were analyzed by micro-CT. Images of inter-radicular alveolar bone of the mandibular first molars underwent three-dimensional reconstruction and were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to the sham group, trabecular thickness in OVX alveolar bone decreased by 27% (P = 0.012), but trabecular separation in OVX alveolar bone increased by 59% (P = 0.005). A thickness and separation map showed that trabeculae of less than 100 μm increased by 46%, whereas trabeculae of more than 200 μm decreased by more than 40% in the OVX group compared to those in the sham group. Furthermore, the OVX separation of those trabecular of more than 200 μm was 65% higher compared to the sham group. Bone mineral density (P = 0.028) and bone volume fraction (p = 0.001) were also significantly decreased in the OVX group compared to the sham group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ovariectomy-induced bone loss in mandibular bone may be related to the distributional variations in trabecular thickness and separation which profoundly impact the modulation of the trabecular architecture.
authors.affiliation: Sino-Russian Institute of Hard Tissue Development and Regeneration, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Zhongshuang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Chengwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Sino-Russian Institute of Hard Tissue Development and Regeneration, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Sino-Russian Institute of Hard Tissue Development and Regeneration, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China; Heilongjiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Sino-Russian Institute of Hard Tissue Development and Regeneration, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China; Heilongjiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015519:Bone Density; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography