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Published on: September 8, 2023
Distributional variations in trabecular architecture of the mandibular bone: an in vivo micro-CT analysis in rats
Zhongshuang Liu1, Chengwei Yan2, Chen Kang1
1Sino-Russian Institute of Hard Tissue Development and Regeneration, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, China.
Purpose:
To evaluate the effect of trabecular thickness and trabecular separation on modulating the trabecular architecture of the mandibular bone in ovariectomized rats.
Materials And Methods:
Fourteen 12-week-old adult female Wistar rats were divided into an ovariectomy group (OVX) and a sham-ovariectomy group (sham). Five months after the surgery, the mandibles from 14 rats (seven OVX and seven sham) were analyzed by micro-CT. Images of inter-radicular alveolar bone of the mandibular first molars underwent three-dimensional reconstruction and were analyzed.
Results:
Compared to the sham group, trabecular thickness in OVX alveolar bone decreased by 27% (P = 0.012), but trabecular separation in OVX alveolar bone increased by 59% (P = 0.005). A thickness and separation map showed that trabeculae of less than 100 μm increased by 46%, whereas trabeculae of more than 200 μm decreased by more than 40% in the OVX group compared to those in the sham group. Furthermore, the OVX separation of those trabecular of more than 200 μm was 65% higher compared to the sham group. Bone mineral density (P = 0.028) and bone volume fraction (p = 0.001) were also significantly decreased in the OVX group compared to the sham group.
Conclusions:
Ovariectomy-induced bone loss in mandibular bone may be related to the distributional variations in trabecular thickness and separation which profoundly impact the modulation of the trabecular architecture.
