Improved trabecular bone structure of 20-month-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats

Calcif Tissue Int. 2014 Sep;95(3):282-91. doi: 10.1007/s00223-014-9893-0. Epub 2014 Aug 9.

Abstract

A few clinical studies have reported that elderly male participants with hypertensive disease frequently have higher bone mineral density (BMD) than the normotensive participants at several skeletal sites. The detailed mechanism is still unknown; therefore, a study of bone structure and density using the hypertensive animal models could be informative. We used micro-computed tomography to quantitatively evaluate the tibial and 3rd lumbar vertebral bones in the 20-month-old male spontaneous hypertensive rat (SHR). The BMD, volume fraction, and the microarchitecture changes of the SHR were compared to those of same-age normotensive controls (Wistar-Kyoto rat, WKY). We found that in the very old (20 month) male rats, the trabecular bone fraction and microstructure were higher than those in the same-age normotensive controls. The observation of the association of hypertension with BMD and bone strength in hypertensive rats warrants further investigations of bone mass and strength in elderly males with hypertension.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bone Density / physiology*
  • Bone and Bones / diagnostic imaging*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Finite Element Analysis
  • Hypertension / diagnostic imaging*
  • Male
  • Rats
  • Rats, Inbred SHR
  • Rats, Inbred WKY
  • X-Ray Microtomography