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Influence of Vitamin D Status and Mechanical Loading on the Morphometric and Mechanical Properties of the Mouse Tibia

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Abstract

It is well known that vitamin D and mechanical loading play important roles in bone growth and development. However, the combined effect of the maternal vitamin D status and mechanical loading on the bone quality of growing and mature bones is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the antenatal vitamin D status and mechanical loading on bone morphometric and mechanical properties in juvenile and adult bones. C57BL/6J mice were used to generate vitamin D-replete and vitamin D-depleted dams. The left tibiae of 8-week-old and 16-week-old offspring were mechanically loaded in vivo for two weeks. Both tibiae were dissected and scanned using a μCT imaging system. It was found that in the bones of 10-week-old juvenile offspring, the antenatal vitamin D-replete group significantly increased trabecular bone volume fraction (Tb.BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), cortical thickness (Ct.Th), bone stiffness and failure load; significantly decreased trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) and cortical marrow area (Ct.MA) only in loaded tibiae; and markedly increased Tb.Sp and Ct.MA only in non-loaded tibiae. In the bones of the 18-week-old adult offspring, the antenatal vitamin D status had a minimal effect on the bone morphometric and mechanical parameters. These data imply that antenatal vitamin D repletion results in increased responses to mechanical loading only in the juvenile state, emphasizing the importance of a sufficient vitamin D supply during pregnancy and sufficient physical activities during the juvenile period to increase bone quality.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11702057, 11772086), the Chinese Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (DUT18LK19) and the Open Fund from the State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment (GZ1611), Dalian University of Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, No. 2 Linggong Road, Ganjingzi District, Dalian, 116024, China

    Yong-Tao Lu & Cheng-Wei Wu

  2. Department of Engineering Mechanics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    Yong-Tao Lu, Zhen-Tao Cui, Ru-Kun Ma & Cheng-Wei Wu

  3. School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF24 3AA, UK

    Han-Xing Zhu

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  1. Yong-Tao Lu
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Correspondence to Cheng-Wei Wu.

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Lu, YT., Cui, ZT., Zhu, HX. et al. Influence of Vitamin D Status and Mechanical Loading on the Morphometric and Mechanical Properties of the Mouse Tibia. J. Med. Biol. Eng. 39, 523–531 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-018-0433-7

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