Bône

/bohn/, n.

former name of Annaba.

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I

Rigid connective tissue of vertebrates, consisting of cells embedded in a hard matrix.

Bones serve as the body's supporting framework, provide muscle-attachment points for movement, protect the internal organs, house the blood-cell formation system (red bone marrow), and hold about 99% of the calcium vital to many body processes. Bone consists of a matrix of crystals of calcium, chiefly the phosphate and carbonate, embedded among collagen fibres, providing strength and elasticity, and bone cells (less than 5% of its volume). An external layer of compact bone surrounds a central area of spongy bone, except at the marrow cavity. Bone does not grow by cell division; instead, different types of bone cells generate bone matrix, break it down, and maintain it. Bone is remodeled by this process, which strengthens it in areas under greatest stress, permits healing of fractures, and helps regulate calcium levels in body fluid (see calcium deficiency). The process also causes underutilized bone, as in an immobilized limb, to atrophy. Bone disorders include rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, rickets, osteoporosis, and tumours. Bone can fracture suddenly or over time, as in stress fractures.

II

(as used in expressions)

anemia of bone marrow failure

bone china

bone marrow

Paget disease of bone

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▪ anatomy

Introduction

 rigid body tissue consisting of cells embedded in an abundant, hard intercellular material. The two principal components of this material, collagen and calcium phosphate, distinguish bone from such other hard tissues as chitin, enamel, and shell. Bone tissue makes up the individual bones of the human skeletal system (skeletal system, human) and the skeletons (skeleton) of other vertebrates (vertebrate).

      The functions of bone include (1) structural support for the mechanical action of soft tissues, such as the contraction of muscles and the expansion of lungs, (2) protection of soft organs and tissues, as by the skull, (3) provision of a protective site for specialized tissues such as the blood-forming system ( bone marrow), and (4) a mineral reservoir, whereby the endocrine system regulates the level of calcium and phosphate in the circulating body fluids.

Evolutionary origin and significance

      Bone is found only in vertebrates (vertebrate), and, among modern vertebrates, it is found only in bony fish and higher classes. Although ancestors of the cyclostomes (cyclostome) and elasmobranchs had armoured headcases, which served largely a protective function and appear to have been true bone, modern cyclostomes have only an endoskeleton, or inner skeleton, of noncalcified cartilage and elasmobranchs a skeleton of calcified cartilage. Although a rigid endoskeleton performs obvious body supportive functions for land-living vertebrates, it is doubtful that bone offered any such mechanical advantage to the teleost (bony fish) in which it first appeared, for in a supporting aquatic environment great structural rigidity is not essential for maintaining body configuration. The sharks (shark) and rays (ray) are superb examples of mechanical engineering efficiency, and their perseverance from the Devonian Period attests to the suitability of their nonbony endoskeleton.

      In modern vertebrates, true bone is found only in animals capable of controlling the osmotic and ionic composition of their internal fluid environment. Marine invertebrates exhibit interstitial fluid compositions essentially the same as that of the surrounding seawater. Early signs of regulability are seen in cyclostomes and elasmobranchs, but only at or above the level of true bone fishes does the composition of the internal body fluids become constant. The mechanisms involved in this regulation are numerous and complex and include both the kidney and the gills (gill). Fresh and marine waters provide abundant calcium but only traces of phosphate; because relatively high levels of phosphate are characteristic of the body fluids of higher vertebrates, it seems likely that a large, readily available internal phosphate reservoir would confer significant independence of external environment on bony vertebrates. With the emergence of terrestrial forms, the availability of calcium regulation became equally significant. Along with the kidney and the various component glands of the endocrine system, bone has contributed to development of internal fluid homeostasis—the maintenance of a constant chemical composition. This was a necessary step for the emergence of terrestrial vertebrates. Furthermore, out of the buoyancy of water, structural rigidity of bone afforded mechanical advantages that are the most obvious features of the modern vertebrate skeleton.

Chemical composition and physical properties

      Depending upon species, age, and type of bone, bone cells represent up to 15 percent of the volume of bone; in mature bone in most higher animals, they usually represent only up to 5 percent. The nonliving intercellular material of bone consists of an organic component called collagen (a fibrous protein arranged in long strands or bundles similar in structure and organization to the collagen of ligaments, tendons, and skin), with small amounts of proteinpolysaccharides, glycoaminoglycans (formerly known as mucopolysaccharides) chemically bound to protein and dispersed within and around the collagen fibre bundles, and an inorganic mineral component in the form of rod-shaped crystals (crystal). These crystals are arranged parallel with the long axes of collagen bundles and many actually lie in voids within the bundles themselves. Organic material comprises 50 percent of the volume and 30 percent of the dry weight of the intercellular composite, with minerals making up the remainder. The major minerals of the intercellular composite are calcium and phosphate. When first deposited, mineral is crystallographically amorphous, but with maturation it becomes typical of the apatite minerals, the major component being hydroxyapatite. carbonate is also present—in amounts varying from 4 percent of bone ash in fish and 8 percent in most mammals to more than 13 percent in the turtle—and occurs in two distinct phases, calcium carbonate and a carbonate apatite. Except for that associated with its cellular elements, there is little free water in adult mammalian bone (approximately 8 percent of total volume). As a result, diffusion from surfaces into the interior of the intercellular substance occurs at the slow rates more typical of diffusion from surfaces of solids than within liquids.

      The mineral crystals are responsible for hardness, rigidity, and the great compressive strength of bone, but they share with other crystalline materials a great weakness in tension, arising from the tendency for stress to concentrate about defects and for these defects to propagate. On the other hand, the collagen fibrils of bone possess high elasticity, little compressive strength, and considerable intrinsic tensile strength. The tensile strength of bone depends, however, not on collagen alone but on the intimate association of mineral with collagen, which confers on bone many of the general properties exhibited by two-phase materials such as fibre glass and bamboo. In such materials the dispersion of a rigid but brittle material in a matrix of quite different elasticity prevents the propagation of stress failure through the brittle material and therefore allows a closer approach to the theoretical limiting strength of single crystals.

      The fine structure of bone has thus far frustrated attempts to determine the true strength of the mineral-matrix composite at the “unit” structural level. Compact (cortical) bone specimens have been found to have tensile strength in the range of 700–1,400 kg per square cm (10,000–20,000 pounds per square inch) and compressive strengths in the range of 1,400–2,100 kg per square cm (20,000–30,000 pounds per square inch). These values are of the same general order as for aluminum or mild steel, but bone has an advantage over such materials in that it is considerably lighter. The great strength of bone exists principally along its long axis and is roughly parallel both to the collagen fibre axis and to the long axis of the mineral crystals.

      Although apparently stiff, bones exhibit a considerable degree of elasticity, which is important to the skeleton's ability to withstand impact. Estimates of modulus of elasticity of bone samples are of the order of 420 to 700 kg per square cm (6,000 to 10,000 pounds per square inch), a value much less than steel, for example, indicating the much greater elasticity of bone. Perfect elasticity exists with loads up to 30 to 40 percent of breaking strength; above this, “creep,” or gradual deformation, occurs, presumably along natural defects within the bony structure. The modulus of elasticity in bone is strikingly dependent upon the rate at which loads are applied, bones being stiffer during rapid deformation than during slow; this behaviour suggests an element of viscous flow during deformation.

      As might be anticipated from consideration of the two-phase composition of bone, variation in the mineral-collagen ratio leads to changes in physical properties: less mineral tends ultimately to greater flexibility and more mineral to increased brittleness. Optimal ratios, as reflected in maximal tensile strength, are observed at an ash content of approximately 66 percent, a value that is characteristic of the weight-bearing bones of mammals.

Bone morphology

      Grossly, bone tissue is organized into a variety of shapes and configurations adapted to the function of each bone: broad, flat plates, such as the scapula, serve as anchors for large muscle masses, while hollow, thick-walled tubes, such as the femur, the radius, and the ulna, support weight or serve as a lever arm. These different types of bone are distinguished more by their external shape than by their basic structure.

      All bones have an exterior layer called cortex that is smooth, compact, continuous, and of varying thickness. In its interior, bony tissue is arranged in a network of intersecting plates and spicules called trabeculae, which vary in amount in different bones and enclose spaces filled with blood vessels and marrow. This honeycombed bone is termed cancellous (cancellous bone) or trabecular. In mature bone, trabeculae are arranged in an orderly pattern that provides continuous units of bony tissue aligned parallel with the lines of major compressive or tensile force. Trabeculae thus provide a complex series of cross-braced interior struts arranged so as to provide maximal rigidity with minimal material.

      Bones such as vertebrae, subject to primarily compressive or tensile forces, usually have thin cortices and provide necessary structural rigidity through trabeculae, whereas bones such as the femur, subject to prominent bending, shear, or torsional forces, usually have thick cortices, a tubular configuration, and a continuous cavity running through their centres (medullary cavity).

      Long bones, distinctive of the body's extremities, exhibit a number of common gross structural features. The central region of the bone (diaphysis) is the most clearly tubular. At one or commonly both ends, the diaphysis flares outward and assumes a predominantly cancellous internal structure. This region (metaphysis) functions to transfer loads from weight-bearing joint surfaces to the diaphysis. Finally, at the end of a long bone is a region known as an epiphysis, which exhibits a cancellous internal structure and comprises the bony substructure of the joint surface. Prior to full skeletal maturity the epiphysis is separated from the metaphysis by a cartilaginous plate called the growth plate or physis; in bones with complex articulations (such as the humerus at its lower end) or bones with multiple protuberances (such as the femur at its upper end) there may be several separate epiphyses, each with its growth plate.

Four types of cells in bone

      Microscopically, bone consists of hard, apparently homogeneous intercellular material, within or upon which can be found four characteristic cell types: osteoblasts (osteoblast), osteocytes (osteocyte), osteoclasts (osteoclast), and undifferentiated bone mesenchymal stem cells (stem cell). Osteoblasts (osteoblast) are responsible for the synthesis and deposition on bone surfaces of the protein matrix of new intercellular material. Osteocytes (osteocyte) are osteoblasts that have been trapped within intercellular material, residing in a cavity (lacuna) and communicating with other osteocytes as well as with free bone surfaces by means of extensive filamentous protoplasmic extensions that occupy long, meandering channels (canaliculi) through the bone substance. With the exception of certain higher orders of modern fish, all bone, including primitive vertebrate fossil bone, exhibits an osteocytic structure. Osteoclasts (osteoclast) are usually large multinucleated cells that, working from bone surfaces, resorb bone by direct chemical and enzymatic attack. Undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells of the bone reside in the loose connective tissue between trabeculae, along vascular channels, and in the condensed fibrous tissue covering the outside of the bone ( periosteum); they give rise under appropriate stimuli to osteoblasts.

      Depending on how the protein fibrils and osteocytes of bone are arranged, bone is of two major types: woven, in which collagen bundles and the long axes of the osteocytes are randomly oriented, and lamellar, in which both the fibrils and osteocytes are aligned in clear layers. In lamellar bone the layers alternate every few micrometres (millionths of a metre), and the primary direction of the fibrils shifts approximately 90°. In compact, or cortical, bone of many mammalian species, lamellar bone is further organized into units known as osteons (osteon), which consist of concentric cylindrical lamellar elements several millimetres long and 0.2–0.3 mm (0.008–0.012 inch) in diameter. These cylinders comprise the haversian systems. Osteons exhibit a gently spiral course oriented along the axis of the bone. In their centre is a canal (haversian canal) containing one or more small blood vessels, and at their outer margins is a boundary layer known as a “cement line,” which serves both as a means of fixation for new bone deposited on an old surface and as a diffusion barrier. Osteocytic processes do not penetrate the cement line, and therefore these barriers constitute the outer envelope of a nutritional unit; osteocytes on opposite sides of a cement line derive their nutrition from different vascular channels. Cement lines are found in all types of bone, as well as in osteons, and in general they indicate lines at which new bone was deposited on an old surface.

Vascular supply and circulation

      In a typical long bone, blood is supplied by three separate systems: a nutrient artery, periosteal vessels, and epiphyseal vessels. The diaphysis and metaphysis are nourished primarily by the nutrient artery, which passes through the cortex into the medullary cavity and then ramifies outward through haversian and Volkmann canals to supply the cortex. Extensive vessels in the periosteum, the membrane surrounding the bone, supply the superficial layers of the cortex and connect with the nutrient-artery system. In the event of obstruction of the nutrient artery, periosteal vessels are capable of meeting the needs of both systems. The epiphyses are supplied by a separate system that consists of a ring of arteries entering the bone along a circular band between the growth plate and the joint capsule. In the adult these vessels become connected to the other two systems at the metaphyseal-epiphyseal junction, but while the growth plate is open there is no such connection, and the epiphyseal vessels are the sole source of nutrition for the growing cartilage; therefore they are essential for skeletal growth.

      Drainage of blood is by a system of veins (vein) that runs parallel with the arterial supply and by veins leaving the cortical periosteum through muscle insertions. Muscle contraction milks blood outward, giving rise to a centrifugal pattern of flow from the axial nutrient artery through the cortex and out through muscle attachments.

Remodeling (bone remodeling), growth, and development

Bone resorption and renewal

      Whereas renewal in tissues such as muscle occurs largely at a molecular level, renewal of bone occurs at a tissue level and is similar to the remodeling of buildings in that local removal (resorption) of old bone must precede new bone deposition. Remodeling is most vigorous during the years of active growth, when deposition predominates over resorption. Thereafter remodeling gradually declines, in humans until about age 35, after which its rate remains unchanged or increases slightly. From the fourth decade on, resorption exceeds formation, resulting in an approximate 10 percent loss in bone mass per decade, equivalent to a daily loss of 15 to 30 mg of calcium.

      Except for the addition of the ossification mechanisms within cartilage, growth and development involve exactly the same type of remodeling as that in the adult skeleton. Both require continuous, probably irreversible differentiation of osteoclasts and osteoblasts, the former from circulating monocytes in the blood and the latter from the undifferentiated bone mesenchyme. The life span of osteoclasts is from a few hours to at most a few days, while that of osteoblasts is a few days to at most a few weeks.

      Resorption is produced by clusters of osteoclasts that either erode free bone surfaces or form “cutting cones” that tunnel through compact bone and create the cylindrical cavities that may be subsequently filled by osteons. Osteoclastic cells secrete enzymes (enzyme) and hydrogen ions (hydrogen ion) onto the bone surface, dissolving the mineral and digesting the matrix at virtually the same moment. The process is associated with locally augmented blood flow and with a greater surface acidity than elsewhere in bone, despite the fact that the process of dissolving apatite consumes hydrogen ions. Resorption is usually a much more rapid process than formation. Osteoclastic cutting cones have been observed to advance at rates up to 500 micrometres, or microns, per day (1 micron = 1 × 10⁻⁶ metre).

      Bone is formed on previously resorbed surfaces by deposition of an unmineralized protein matrix material (osteoid) and its subsequent mineralization. Osteoblasts (osteoblast) elaborate matrix as a continuous membrane covering the surface on which they are working at a linear rate that varies with both age and species but which in large adult mammals is on the order of one micron per day. The unmineralized matrix constitutes an osteoid seam or border, averaging 6 to 10 microns in thickness during active bone formation. The biochemical and physical sequence of events that prepare matrix for mineralization includes intracellular biosynthesis (anabolism) of collagen by osteoblasts, extrusion of collagen extracellularly in soluble form, maturation or polymerization of collagen into an array of fibrils (in random orientation in rapidly deposited bone, in a highly ordered regular pattern in slowly formed lamellar bone), binding of calcium to collagen fibrils, and formation of protein-glycoaminoglycan complexes.

      Mineralization itself depends upon establishment of crystal nuclei within the matrix; this process requires 5 to 10 days and is under the control of the osteoblast, but its exact chemistry is obscure. A suitable nucleating configuration is somehow established, and, once nuclei reach a critical size, further mineralization proceeds spontaneously in the presence of usual body fluid calcium and phosphorus concentrations. Other collagenous tissues, such as dermis, tendon, and ligament, do not normally calcify, even though bathed by the same body fluids as bone. Although extracellular fluid is a highly supersaturated solution with respect to hydroxylapatite, calcium and phosphorus will not spontaneously precipitate in this crystalline form at normal physiological pH, so one and the same fluid is indefinitely stable in non-bone-forming regions yet richly supports mineralization in the presence of suitable crystal nuclei. Mineral movement into new bone is initially rapid and in compact bone is known to reach approximately 70 percent of full mineralization within a few hours after matrix nucleation. This mineral deposition involves replacement of the water that occupied half the original matrix volume. As water content decreases, further mineral diffusion is impeded; and the final mineralization occurs progressively more slowly over a period of many weeks. In normal adult humans, new bone formation takes up about 400 mg of calcium per day, an amount approximately equal to that in the circulating blood.

      Osteocytes (osteocyte), once thought of as resting cells, are now recognized to be metabolically active and to possess, at least in latent form, the ability to resorb and re-form bone on their lacunar walls. Although osteocytes constitute only a small fraction of total bone volume, they are so arranged within bone, and the network of their protoplasmic extensions is so extensive, that there is essentially no volume of bony material situated more than a fraction of a micron from a cell or its processes. Of the more than 1,200 square metres (1,435 square yards) of anatomic surface within the skeleton of an adult man, about 99 percent is accounted for by the lacunar and canalicular surfaces. Resorption and deposition on this surface serve both to regulate plasma calcium concentration and to renew bony material. This renewal may be particularly important because all composite materials change in their physical properties with time. It is not known whether bone properties change sufficiently to have biological consequence, but, to the extent that such change does occur, renewal around osteocytes would provide for the physical maintenance of bone structural material.

Types of bone formation

      Bone is formed in the embryo in two general ways. For most bones the general shape is first laid down as a cartilage model, which is then progressively replaced by bone (endochondral bone formation). A few bones (such as the clavicle and the calvarium) develop within a condensed region of fibrous tissue without a cartilaginous intermediate (membrane bone formation). In long bones a collar of spongy membrane bone is first laid down in the fibrous tissues surrounding the cartilaginous model of the shaft. At the same time, the cartilage deep to this collar begins to degenerate and calcify. The bone is then penetrated by blood vessels, which grow into the degenerating model and remove the calcified cartilage enclosed within the collar. Vascular invasion proceeds toward both ends of the model in parallel with continued extension of the bony collar. This leaves a structure consisting of two cartilaginous epiphyses at the ends of a hollow bony shaft.

      Growth from this point on is accomplished in two ways. Radial growth occurs by deposition of new bone on the periosteal surface and roughly equivalent resorption at the endosteal surface. Longitudinal growth involves replacement of cartilage by bone from the shaft side of the growth plate, at a rate closely matched by the rate of production of new cartilage by the plate itself. The growth plate consists of highly ordered rows of cartilage cells; the row farthest removed from the bony shaft is a basal or germinal layer, responsible for cell replication and cartilage growth. The complex sequence of longitudinal growth consists of cartilage cell degeneration farthest from the germinal layer, calcification of cartilage in that area, deposition over it of a thin layer of true bone (primary spongiosa), and, finally, osteoclastic resorption to extend the medullary cavity in parallel with longitudinal growth and to reshape the contour of the shaft.

      This process of cartilage growth, degeneration, calcification, and ultimate replacement by bone is responsible for most growth in length in vertebrates. It first begins in the embryo and continues until full skeletal maturity, when in most species the growth plates fuse and disappear.

      The appearance of epiphyseal ossification centres and their ultimate fusion, both of which can be detected by ordinary X-rays, normally follow an orderly and predictable sequence that is of great value in the evaluation of disorders of growth and development. Because of the complicated interaction of several tissue elements in the process of endochondral ossification, the metaphyseal region of bones is the seat of, or prominently reflects, many nutritional or metabolic disturbances of growth. Examples of disorders involving this growth mechanism include rickets and achondroplastic dwarfism (achondroplasia).

Physiology of bone

calcium and phosphate equilibrium

      As important as the structural properties of bone is the role bone plays in the maintenance of the ionic composition of the blood and interstitial fluids of the body. All vertebrates possessing true bone exhibit body-fluid calcium ion concentrations of approximately 50 mg per litre (1.25 millimoles) and phosphorus concentrations in the range of 30–100 mg per litre (1–3 millimoles). These levels, particularly those of calcium, are extremely important for the maintenance of normal neuromuscular function, interneuronal transmission, cell membrane integrity and permeability, and blood coagulation. The rigid constancy with which calcium levels are maintained, both in the individual and throughout all higher vertebrate classes, attests to the biological importance of such regulation. Approximately 99 percent of total body calcium and 85 percent of total body phosphorus reside in the mineral deposits of bone; thus, bone is quantitatively in a position to mediate adjustments in concentration of these two ions in the circulating body fluids. Such adjustments are provided by three hormonal control loops (control systems with feedback) and by at least three locally acting mechanisms. The hormonal loops involve parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin (CT), and vitamin D and are concerned exclusively with regulation of calcium ion and phosphorus ion concentrations.

      PTH and vitamin D act to elevate ionized calcium levels in body fluids, and CT (from the ultimobranchial body or C cells of the thyroid gland) acts to depress them. The secretion of each hormone is controlled by the level of calcium ion in the circulating blood. At normal calcium concentrations, there are low levels of secretion of all three hormones. When the blood levels of ionized calcium decline, there is an almost immediate increase in PTH synthesis and secretion. PTH has three principal actions in maintaining blood calcium concentrations. It directly stimulates the kidneys (kidney) to enhance the tubular reabsorption of calcium from the ultrafiltrate that would otherwise be excreted into the urine. It also stimulates the kidney to activate the major circulating form of vitamin D to calcitrial. Calcitrial enters the circulation and travels to the small intestine where it acts to increase the absorption efficiency of dietary calcium into the bloodstream.

      PTH and calcitrial can also stimulate osteoblasts (osteoblast) to produce osteoclast differentiation factor (ODF). Osteoblasts that have ODF on their surfaces can interact with the precursor cells of osteoclasts (monocytes) to induce them to become mature osteoclasts. The osteoclasts in turn release hydrochloric acid and enzymes into the mineralized bone and release calcium and phosphorus into the circulation. Thus, when there is inadequate dietary calcium to satisfy the body's calcium needs, both PTH and calcitrial work in concert on osteoblasts to recruit precursors of osteoclasts to become mature osteoclasts. When the body's calcium needs are satisfied by adequate dietary intake of calcium, both PTH and calcitrial act on osteoblasts to increase their activity, resulting in increased bone formation and mineralization. Calcitonin is the only hormone that interacts directly on osteoclasts, which have a receptor for it. It decreases mature osteoclastic activity, thereby inhibiting their function.

      PTH and calcitrial also are important in maintaining serum phosphorus levels. PTH interferes with renal tubular phosphorus reabsorption, causing an enhanced renal excretion of phosphorus. This mechanism, which serves to lower levels of phosphorus in the bloodstream, is significant because high phosphate levels inhibit and low levels enhance osteoclastic reabsorption. Calcium ion itself has similar effects on the osteoclastic process: high levels inhibit and low levels enhance the effect of systemically acting agents such as PTH. On the other hand, PTH stimulates the production of calcitrial, which in turn stimulates the small intestine to increase its efficacy of absorption of dietary phosphorus.

      A deficiency in vitamin D results in poor mineralization of the skeleton, causing rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Mineralization defects are due to the decrease in the efficiency of intestinal calcium absorption, which results in a decrease in ionized calcium concentrations in blood. This results in an increase in PTH in the circulation, which increases serum calcium and decreases serum phoshorus because of the enhanced excretion of phosphorus into the urine.

      The exact function of calcitonin is not fully understood. However, it can offset elevations in high calcium ion levels by decreasing osteoclast activity, resulting in inhibition of bone absorption.

Physiological and mechanical controls

      In the language of control mechanics, remodeling depends upon two control loops with negative feedback: a homeostatic loop involving the effects of PTH and CT on resorption and a mechanical loop that brings about changes in skeletal mass and arrangement to meet changing structural needs. The PTH-CT loop is basically a systemic process, and the mechanical loop is local; however, the two loops interact significantly at the level of the cells that act as intermediaries in both processes. A large number of other factors, including minerals in the diet, hormonal balance, disease, and aging, have important effects on the skeleton that interact with the control system.

      The controls exerted by mechanical forces, recognized for over a century, have been formulated as Wolff's law: “Every change in the function of a bone is followed by certain definite changes in its internal architecture and its external conformation.” Of the many theories proposed to explain how mechanical forces communicate with the cells responsible for bone formation and resorption, the most appealing has been postulation of induced local electrical fields that mediate this information exchange. Many crystalline or semicrystalline materials, including both bone collagen and its associated mineral, exhibit piezoelectric properties. Deformation of macroscopic units of bone by mechanical force produces a charge in the millivolt range and current flow on the order of 10⁻¹⁵ ampere; both voltage and current flow are proportional to the applied force. Regions under tension act as anode and compressed regions as cathode. Currents of this magnitude are capable of aligning collagen fibrils as they aggregate from the solution phase and are known also to alter the cell-based development of regeneration buds in amphibia. The negative feedback characteristic of this mechanism lies in the fact that bone accumulates about the cathodal region of this system, hence reducing the electrical effects produced by an applied force.

      The mechanisms by which the bone mesenchyme responds to mechanical stimuli (whether or not mediated by electrical signals) are uncertain. In general, heavy usage leads to heavy bone, and disuse, as in immobilization associated with injury or severe disease, results in decreased bone mass and increased excretion of calcium, phosphorus, and nitrogen. The cellular response, however, is discouragingly complex. In broad outline it appears that the local expression of decreased stress is an increase in bone resorption coupled variably with a smaller and secondary increase in bone formation, whereas increased stress appears to be accompanied by a decrease in bone resorption coupled also with a smaller and probably secondary increase in bone formation. The decrease in resorption represents a decreased sensitivity to systemic stimuli, such as PTH, and reflects an interaction between hormonal and physical forces at the cellular level. PTH is the major determinant of all remodeling, structural as well as homeostatic; mechanical forces are the major determinant of where that remodeling occurs.

      One of the most arresting features of skeletal remodeling is the tendency for rates of bone resorption and bone formation to change in the same direction. Three mechanisms for this coupling can be identified. The first is homeostatic and rises from the mineral demand created by formation of crystal nuclei in the bone matrix. Unless the calcium demands of increased bone formation can be met by some other source (such as an increase in calcium in the diet), they will inevitably lead to increased PTH secretion and bone resorption. Since the level of PTH is a principal determinant of bone resorption, it follows that high levels of formation tend to produce high levels of resorption (and vice versa). A second mechanism is the mechanical force–piezoelectric system discussed earlier. Local bone resorption, by reducing structural volume, concentrates applied forces in the remaining bone; this leads to increased strain and presumably increases the stimulus for local bone repair. A third mechanism is inferred from the observation in adult animals that the induction of specialized bony cells from the mesenchyme proceeds in a predetermined sequence—first osteoclasts and then osteoblasts—so that, even on free surfaces, resorption usually precedes formation. The ultimate basis of this cellular coupling is not known.

      Because of the paramount influences that parathyroid hormone and calcitonin have on bone, their effects have been described in detail in the discussions of calcium and phosphate homeostasis and control of skeletal remodeling.

Hormonal influences

      The most striking effects of estrogens (estrogen) are seen in birds (bird). During the part of the life cycle prior to egg formation, a marked increase in osteoblastic activity occurs along the inside surfaces of the long bones, and the medullary cavities become filled with spongy bone. As the egg is formed, this spongy bone is rapidly resorbed; plasma calcium rises dramatically; and calcium is deposited in the shell. In mammals studied prior to skeletal maturity, administration of estrogens produces an accelerated appearance of ossification centres, a slowing in growth of cartilage and bone, and fusion of the epiphyses; the result is an adult skeleton smaller than normal. In older mammals, estrogens in certain dosages and schedules of administration may inhibit trabecular bone resorption, and, in some species, prolonged administration of estrogen may lead to increased bone porosity. In postmenopausal women, administration of estrogen suppresses bone resorption and produces a transient decrease in serum calcium and phosphorus and in renal reabsorption of phosphorus, as well as positive calcium balance—effects that help to stabilize the total skeletal bone mass.

      The effects described are for estrogens as a general class of steroid hormones, and no attempt has been made to differentiate between the actions of natural estrogenic hormones and the many synthetic varieties now in wide use to suppress ovulation.

      Very little is known of the effects of progesterone on bone beyond studies in young guinea pigs suggesting slight inhibition of the activity of such hormones as estrogens, which speed skeletal development.

      In mammals, including humans, just prior to sexual maturity, the growth spurt occurring in males is attributable principally to the growth-promoting action of the male sex hormone testosterone. When administered, testosterone and related steroids stimulate linear growth for a limited period; ultimately, however, particularly if they are given in large doses, they suppress bone growth as the result of hastened skeletal development and premature epiphyseal closure. Studies have indicated that testosterone derivatives administered to adult mammals suppress the turnover and resorption of bone and increase the retention of nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium.

      The influence of the adrenal corticosteroid hormones on bone is varied, but the principal result is slowing of growth in the young and decrease in bone mass in the adult. In Cushing syndrome, in which there is abnormally high secretion of corticosteroids, bone loss to the point of fractures often occurs. cortisol in high concentration suppresses protein and mucopolysaccharide synthesis, with inhibition of bone matrix formation and of incorporation of nucleosides into bone cells. Cortisol also inhibits intestinal calcium absorption, which in turn causes increases in PTH production and the rate of bone resorption.

      Lack of the internal secretion of the thyroid gland results in retardation of skeletal growth and development. Action of this hormone to facilitate growth and skeletal maturation is probably indirect, through its general effects on cell metabolism. Thyroid hormone in excess leads in the young to premature appearance of ossification centres and closure of the epiphyses and in adults to increased bone-cell metabolism. Commonly, in the hyperthyroid adult, bone resorption predominates over increased bone formation with resultant loss of bone mass.

      The anterior lobe of the pituitary gland secretes a hormone essential for growth and development of the skeleton. This effect of the hormone is indirect and mediated by “sulfation factor,” a substance produced in the liver in response to stimulation by the growth hormone. The extent to which growth hormone is involved in skeletal remodeling in the adult is not known, but excessive elaboration of the hormone after maturity leads to distorted enlargement of all bones in the condition known as acromegaly. Excessive elaboration of growth hormone prior to epiphyseal closure leads to gigantism. Studies of the administration of growth hormone to humans have indicated marked species specificity; growth in hypopituitary dwarfs is stimulated only by human or primate growth hormone. The principal metabolic effects of the hormone in humans are retention of nitrogen and increased turnover of calcium, resulting in increases both in intestinal calcium absorption and in urinary calcium excretion.

       insulin participates in the regulation of bone growth; it may enhance or even be necessary for the effect of growth hormone on bone. Insulin has been found to stimulate growth and epiphyseal widening in rats whose pituitaries have been removed and to promote chondroitin sulfate synthesis in cartilage and bone and the transport of amino acids and nucleosides into bone.

Nutritional (nutrition, human) influences

      The most significant nutritional influence on bone is the availability of calcium. The close relationship between bone and calcium is indicated by the principal processes of calcium metabolism. Bone contains 99 percent of the calcium in the body and can behave as an adequate buffer for maintenance of a constant level of freely moving calcium in soft tissues, extracellular fluid, and blood. The free-calcium concentration in this pool must be kept within fairly narrow limits (50–65 mg per litre of extracellular fluid) to maintain the constant internal environment necessary for neuromuscular irritability, blood clotting, muscle contractility, and cardiac function. Calcium leaves the pool by way of bone formation, by such routes as the urine, feces, and sweat, and periodically by way of lactation and transplacental movement. Calcium enters the pool by the mechanism of bone resorption and by absorption from dietary calcium in the upper intestinal tract.

      The significance with respect to bone of adequate availability of calcium to animals or humans is that the mechanical strength of bone is proportional to its mineral content. All of the other components of bone, organic and inorganic, are of course also essential for bone integrity, but the importance of availability of structural materials is most easily illustrated by consideration of calcium balance (dietary intake versus excretory output). If intake of calcium is limited, maintenance of normal levels of extracellular and soft tissue calcium in the face of mandatory daily losses from this pool by various excretory routes requires that calcium be mined from its storage depot, bone. Abundant mineral intake then tends to preserve bone mass, and an increase of positivity of calcium balance has been shown to suppress resorption of bone.

      The Food and Nutrition Board of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences has recommended 1,000 to 2,000 mg of calcium daily for adults and 800 to 1,300 mg for children. The usual daily intake of calcium in the diet, however, is between 400 and 600 mg, about 150 to 250 mg from green vegetables and the remainder usually from milk and milk products. Daily urinary excretion of calcium is normally from 50 to 150 mg in females and 50 to 300 mg in males. Fecal excretion of calcium is much larger than urinary excretion; most of the calcium in the feces is unabsorbed dietary calcium. Heavy sweating can result in a loss of more than 200 mg per day. Calcium absorption varies depending on previous and current levels of calcium intake and type of diet. Approximately 30 percent of dietary calcium is absorbed when there is adequate vitamin D intake.

      The other principal mineral constituent of bone is phosphorus, which is abundantly available in milk, meat, and other protein-rich foods. The recommended daily intake of phosphorus is 700 mg daily for adults, 1,250 mg daily for adolescents, and 500 mg daily for children up to age eight. A prolonged dietary deficiency in phosphorus or marked loss of phosphorus in the urine can result in mineral-poor bone, known as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. The skeleton also serves as a storage reservoir for magnesium. Magnesium deficiency can result in neuromuscular dysfunction similar to a calcium deficiency. Magnesium is critically important for the regulation of parathyroid hormone.

      Fluoride, an element of proven value and safety in prevention of dental cavities when provided in drinking water at concentrations of one part per million, is absorbed into bone lattice structure as well as into enamel and produces a larger crystal more resistant to resorption. Amounts 10 or more times that normally taken in fluoridated drinking water have been noted to cause abnormalities of bone collagen synthesis. Extremely large dosages in humans produce the denser but irregularly structured and brittle bone of fluorosis.

      The function of vitamin A remains to be clarified, but it is apparently necessary for proliferation of cartilage and bone growth. Without vitamin A, bone remodeling is also impaired and bones develop in abnormal shapes. Excessive amounts of the vitamin result in thinning of cortical bone and fracture.

      Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, is essential for intracellular formation of collagen and for hydroxylation of proline. In scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, the collagen matrix of bone is either partially or completely unable to calcify (see above Remodeling, growth, and development (bone)).

       vitamin D has several complex physiologic actions that affect calcium, phosphorus, and bone metabolism. A form of vitamin D called calcitrial increases the efficiency of intestinal calcium absorption and also interacts directly with osteoblasts to increase osteoblast function. At times when dietary calcium is inadequate, calcitrial will stimulate osteoblasts (osteoblast) to increase osteoclast differentiation factor (ODF) on their surface, which in turn mobilizes osteoclast mesenchymal cells to become mature osteoclasts (osteoclast). Thus, the major function of vitamin D is to maintain serum levels of calcium by increasing absorption of dietary calcium in the intestine. At times of increased need, such as during pregnancy, lactation, and adolescent growth, circulating levels of calcitrial are increased, resulting in an increase of up to 80 percent in the efficiency of intestinal calcium absorption. In vitamin D deficiency, parathyroid hormone levels are elevated, causing an increased loss of phosphorus into the urine.

      Other nutritional factors include protein, which, as an essential component of the matrix of bone, must be provided by a combination of dietary intake and conversion from other tissues. Changes in acid-base balance also have an influence on the skeleton— acidosis in various clinical disorders and ingestion of acid salts being accompanied by mineral loss.

Robert Proulx Heaney G. Donald Whedon

Additional Reading

John P. Bilezikian, Gideon A. Rodan, and Lawrence G. Raisz (eds.), Principles of Bone Biology, 2nd ed. (2002), intended for students and researchers, is a comprehensive source on all aspects of bone biology and pathology. Marshall R. Urist (ed.), Fundamental and Clinical Bone Physiology (1980), covers bone diseases as well. Other works useful for understanding the functional aspects and structural adaptations of bone are R. McNeill Alexander, Bones: The Unity of Form and Function (1994, reissued 2000); and John Currey, The Mechanical Adaptations of Bones (1984).

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