Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a glycoprotein and functions as an ectoenzyme attached to the cell membrane by a hydrophobic glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. Three bone ALP (BALP) isoforms in human serum were separated and quantitated by high-performance liquid chromatography. B/I, a minor fraction, is composed on average of bone (70%) and intestinal (30%) ALP, and two major isoforms, ...

OBJECTIVE Cartilage and subchondral bone form a functional unit. Here, we aimed to examine the effect of meniscus coverage on the characteristics of this unit in knees of older individuals. METHODS We assessed the hyaline cartilage, subchondral cortical plate (SCP), and subchondral trabecular bone in areas covered or uncovered by the meniscus from normal cadaver knees (without degeneration). ...

This study introduces a standardized framework for the holistic analysis of cortical and trabecular bone structure. This method, although applicable to all bones of the skeleton, is particularly useful for irregular-shaped or small bones for which the application of traditional methods has been especially challenging. Traditional analyses have quantified cortical or trabecular structure in only...

To determine the osteoblastic dysfunction that may be involved in the pathophysiology of osteoporosis in men we have compared histomorphometric indices of bone formation with in vitro characteristics of osteoblastic cells isolated from the trabecular bone surface in 23 untreated men with eugonadal osteoporosis. In most patients (n = 14), trabecular bone loss resulted from decreased bone formati...

PURPOSE The microstructural characteristics of trabecular bone were identified using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), in order to develop a potential strategy for implant surface improvement to facilitate osseointegration. METHODS Alveolar bone specimens from the cadavers of 30 humans were scanned by high-resolution micro-CT and reconstructed. Volumes of interest chosen within the jaw we...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with an increased prevalence of osteoporosis, but the pathogenesis of this bone loss is only partly understood. We assessed bone structure and remodeling at the tissue level in patients with quiescent CD. We also investigated the roles of osteocyte density and apoptosis in CD-associated bone loss. METHODS The study included 23 patients with...

The ability of bone to resist fracture depends on the intrinsic properties of the materials that comprise the bone matrix mineralization, the amount of bone (i.e. mass), and the spatial distribution of the bone mass (i.e. microarchitecture). Antiresorptive agents may prevent the decay of cancellous bone and cortical thinning, with no improvement of bone microstructure, leading to a partial corr...

Vertebral fractures and trabecular bone loss have dominated thinking and research into the pathogenesis and the structural basis of bone fragility during the last 70 years. However, 80% of all fractures are non-vertebral and occur at regions assembled using large amounts of cortical bone; only 20% of fractures are vertebral. Moreover, ~80% of the skeleton is cortical and ~70% of all bone loss i...

The appearances of pathological changes of bone can be various. Determination of apparent bone mineral density is commonly used for diagnosing bone pathological conditions. However, in the last years the structural changes of trabecular bone have received more attention because bone densitometry alone cannot explain all variation in bone strength. The rapid progress in high resolution 3D micro ...

Introduction Osteoporosis is a bone disease associated with an increased risk of bone fracture. The main features of osteoporosis are a low bone mass and a decrease in the architectural competence. Currently, the diagnosis of osteoporosis is based on bone mineral density (BMD) measurements. However, the poor correlation between fracture prevalence and BMD assessments suggests that other factors...