title: Quantification of arthritic bone degradation by analysis of 3D micro-computed tomography data.
abstract: The use of animal models of arthritis is a key component in the evaluation of therapeutic strategies against the human disease rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Here we present quantitative measurements of bone degradation characterised by the cortical bone profile using glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (G6PI) induced arthritis. We applied micro-computed tomography (μCT) during three arthritis experiments and one control experiment to image the metatarsals of the hind paws and to investigate the effect of experimental arthritis on their cortical bone profile. For measurements of the cortical profile we automatically identified slices that are orthogonal to individual metatarsals, thereby making the measurements independent of animal placement in the scanner. We measured the average cortical thickness index (CTI) of the metatarsals, as well as the thickness changes along the metatarsal. In this study we introduced the cortical thickness gradient (CTG) as a new measure and we investigated how arthritis affects this measure. We found that in general both CTI and CTG are able to quantify arthritic progression, whilst CTG was found to be the more sensitive measure.
authors.affiliation: Applied Systems Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Carl-Magnus
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.affiliation: Applied Systems Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.|Cell and Molecular Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.|Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, University Hospital Jena, Leutragraben 3, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Ingo M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Irmler
authors.affiliation: Transfer Group Anti-infectives, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Straßburger
authors.affiliation: Applied Systems Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.|Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc Thilo
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Figge
authors.affiliation: Applied Systems Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.|Cell and Molecular Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans-Knöll-Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Saluz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005956:Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography
chemical_list: D005956:Glucose-6-Phosphate Isomerase