Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Bone Quality In Animal Models Of Osteoporosis, Marc Grynpas, Debbie Chachra, Kathleen Lundon

Debbie Chachra

The use of animal models is a very powerful tool for the preclinical assessment of potential therapies for osteoporosis. However, the effective use of animal models has two prerequisites. The first is the use of appropriate techniques to assess the overall effects of therapy on bone. As spontaneous fractures do not occur in any species other than humans, the efficacy of a therapy cannot be assessed by its impact on fracture incidence. Instead, a suite of parameters (collectively referred to as ‘bone quality’), including bone architecture, mineralization and mechanical properties, is examined. While techniques such as histomorphometry and dual-energy x-ray …