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Frequency-dependent enhancement of bone formation in murine tibiae and femora with knee loading

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Abstract

Knee loading is a relatively new loading modality in which dynamic loads are laterally applied to the knee to induce bone formation in the tibia and the femur. The specific aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of loading frequencies (in Hz) on bone formation at the site away from the loading site on the knee. The left knee of C57/BL/6 mice was loaded with 0.5 N force at 5, 10, or 15 Hz for 3 min/day for 3 consecutive days, and bone histomorphometry was conducted at the site 75% away from the loading site along the length of tibiae and femora. The results revealed frequency-dependent induction of bone formation, in which the dependence was different in the tibia and the femur. Compared with the sham-loading control, for instance, the cross-sectional cortical area was elevated maximally at 5 Hz in the tibia, whereas the most significant increase was observed at 15 Hz in the femur. Furthermore, mineralizing surface, mineral apposition rate, and bone formation rate were the highest at 5 Hz in the tibia (2.0-, 1.4-, and 2.7 fold, respectively) and 15 Hz in the femur (1.5-, 1.2-, and 1.8 fold, respectively). We observed that the tibia had a lower bone mineral density with more porous microstructures than the femur. Those differences may contribute to the observed differential dependence on loading frequencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), Fesler Hall 115, 1120 South Drive, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Ping Zhang, Qiwei Sun, Charles H. Turner & Hiroki Yokota

  2. Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Ping Zhang & Hiroki Yokota

  3. Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan

    Shigeo M. Tanaka

  4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Qiwei Sun & Charles H. Turner

Authors
  1. Ping Zhang
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  2. Shigeo M. Tanaka
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  3. Qiwei Sun
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  4. Charles H. Turner
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  5. Hiroki Yokota
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Correspondence to Hiroki Yokota.

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Zhang, P., Tanaka, S., Sun, Q. et al. Frequency-dependent enhancement of bone formation in murine tibiae and femora with knee loading. J Bone Miner Metab 25, 383–391 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-007-0774-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-007-0774-8

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