Elsevier

Metabolism

Volume 31, Issue 11, November 1982, Pages 1113-1120
Metabolism

Bone matrix and mineral abnormalities in postmenopausal osteoporosis

https://doi.org/10.1016/0026-0495(82)90161-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Iliac crest biopsies from 56 postmenopausal osteoporotic females with spontaneous compression fractures and decreased total body Ca were compared to similar tissue from 48 normal controls. Biopsies were analyzed for bone density, Na, Ca, Mg, P, CO3, and hydroxyproline (OH-P). From the results OH-P/matrix, % mineral, and the ion content of the mineral were calculated. Osteoporotic subjects showed decreased bone density, % mineral in bone, and OH-P in the bone matrix. Within the mineral, CO3 and CaP were decreased, while Na and Mg were increased. Statistical analysis showed that matrix OH-P and % mineral varied independently, and therefore the patients were separated into 4 subgroups: Group Ia: decreased matrix OH-P with normal % mineral (n = 9), Group Ib: decreased matrix OH-P with decreased % mineral (n = 5), Group IIa: normal matrix OH-P with normal % mineral (n = 33), Group IIb: normal matrix OH-P with decreased % mineral (n = 9). Decreased % mineral was associated with decreased bone density and an increase in Na and Mg in the mineral, which suggests skeletal Ca deficiency. Decreased matrix OH-P was associated with decreased bone density and, in the low % mineral group, with decreased mineral CO3 and CaP, suggesting a mineral of decreased mean crystal size. When both abnormalities coexisted (Group Ib), the greatest reduction in total body Ca was seen. Patients with normal matrix and normal % mineral (Group IIa) still had decreased bone density. The results suggest that in a large, clinically homogeneous population of postmenopausal osteoporotic women, 4 subgroups can be identified by differences in chemical composition of iliac crest biopsies.

References (29)

  • E Manzke et al.

    Relationship between local and total bone mass in osteoporosis

    Metab

    (1975)
  • WF Neuman et al.

    Synthetic hydroxyapatite crystals. III. The carbonate system

    Calcif Tissue Res

    (1967)
  • G Pommer

    Untersuchungen über osteomalacia und rachitis

  • F Albright et al.

    Postmenopausal osteoporosis. Its clinical features

    JAMA

    (1941)
  • BE Nordin

    The application of basic science to osteoporosis

  • HM Frost

    Dynamics of bone remodeling

  • P Byers

    The diagnostic value of bone biopsies

  • SL Teitelbaum et al.

    Histologic studies of bone from normocalcemic postmenopausal osteoporotic patients with increased circulating parathyroid hormone

    J Clin Endo Metab

    (1976)
  • PJ Meunier et al.

    Bone histomorphometry in osteoporotic stages

  • DH Birkenhäger-Frenkel

    Assessment of porosity in bone specimens; differences in chemical composition between normal bone and bone from patients with senile osteoporosis

  • DH Manicourt et al.

    Bone mineral content of the radius. Good correlations with physico-chemical determinations in iliac crest trabecular bone of normal and osteoporotic subjects

    Metab

    (1981)
  • MD Lifschitz et al.

    Treatment of osteoporosis with calcium infusions

    Trans Assoc Am Physicians

    (1970)
  • DH Henneman et al.

    The solubility and synthetic rate of bone collagen in idiopathic osteoporosis

    Clin Orthop & Related Res

    (1972)
  • JM Burnell et al.

    Bone crystal maturation in renal osteodystrophy in humans

    J Clin Invest

    (1974)
  • Cited by (52)

    • Altered collagen chemical compositional structure in osteopenic women with past fractures: A case-control Raman spectroscopic study

      2021, Bone
      Citation Excerpt :

      Such elevations could reflect increased intra-strand stability of the collagen triple helix or increased post-translational hydroxylation of proline residues in collagen [34,35]. While bone and urinary hydroxyproline levels have frequently been used as biomarkers of bone remodeling in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis [95–97], the Hyp/Pro ratio used in this study was not calibrated to provide an absolute measure of proline hydroxylation. Alternatively, the marginal increase in Hyp/Pro ratio could be attributed to indirect effects that are not related to post-translational modifications but to changes in collagen secondary structure.

    • The nature of osteoporosis

      2020, Marcus and Feldman’s Osteoporosis
    • The Nature of Osteoporosis

      2013, Osteoporosis: Fourth Edition
    • Influence of chronic alcoholism and oestrogen deficiency on the variation of stoichiometry of hydroxyapatite within alveolar bone crest of rats

      2012, Archives of Oral Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      In cases concerning the changes in the rate of remodelling, with a predominance of the reabsorption process, as occurs in osteoporosis, there is not enough time for osteoblasts to complete the process of mineralization before the bone is reabsorbed prematurely by osteoclasts. These factors could affect the degree of bone mineralization and consequently the Ca/P ratios.6,7,36 In the present study, only the association of alcohol with oestrogenic deficiency was able to significantly decrease the Ca/P ratio in alveolar bone.

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Supported in part by contract N01 AM3-2208 from the National Institutes of Health. A portion of this work was conducted through the Clinical Research Center Facility of the University of Washington, supported by grant #RR-37 from the National Institutes of Health.

    View full text