The response of bone to external loading regimens

The results of Hert et al. have been re-examined using an external pin fixation technique involving New Zealand White rabbits. New bone formation was assessed with tetracycline epifluorescence in 49 animals. The animals were operated upon using inhalational anaesthesia, and pins were placed at opposite ends of the tibia of both hind limbs. Following recovery, oxytetracycline was given at a dosage of 25 mg kg-1 body weight intraperitoneally on the day of loading and on the fourteenth day of the loading regimen. The bones were loaded for 45 min per 24 h. Undemineralized specimens were sectioned and standardized photographs produced. The area of new bone was determined by a planimeter and by digitization. In dynamic loading the shape of the force/time curve is of little significance; the response is frequency dependent and for higher frequencies the response is greater than that from continuous loading; there was no statistical significance between the rapid relief loading regimens. For continuous loading the response is a function of the load value. In all cases more bone is laid down in immature subjects than in adults. With regard to osteoclastic activity, all loading increased the areas of resorption irrespective of character, in all adult animals intermittent loads produced a greater area of ostoeclastic resorption than static loads and produced a greater change as the number of load cycles per minute increased. The adult control animals had more resorptive activity than the immature animals although there was no statistical significance. Loading, irrespective of its character, led to a net increase of bone, the osteoblastic effects thus outweighing the osteoclastic effects.