Skeletal dimensions in senescent laboratory mice

The long bones and vertebral column of ageing mice were compared with controls. The length of the vertebral column and of its cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions did not change with age. Pelvis length and the length and width of the first lumbar vertebra also remained unaltered. The diameter of three of the long bones studied was increased in the senescent mice, although their length did not differ from those of the controls. These long bone changes are similar to those which occur in man and suggest that the laboratory mouse could serve as an experimental model of age-related bone loss.