Diversity of bone cell activity as a histomorphometric feature of idiopathic osteoporosis in men

Figures & data

Table I.  Histomorphometric parameters measured in transiliac bone samples from 32 men with idiopathic osteoporosis.

Parameter	Reference values	Patient values (n = 32)
		Mean ± SD	Range (min–max)
BV/TV (%)	(22.1 ± 4.4)	14.4 ± 3.4	7.8–21.6
OS/BS (%)	(14.8 ± 3.0)	21.1 ± 12.6	5.6–63.0
O.Th (μm)	(10.1 ± 2.5)	6.4 ± 3.4	0.1–15.0
Ob.S/BS (%)	(4.9 ± 1.4)	6.7 ± 4.9	0.8–18.1
ES/BS (%)	(3.6 ± 1.5)	3.7 ± 3.3	0.1–14.3
Tb.Th (μm)	(138 ± 28)	186.6 ± 112.4	52.6–525.0
Tb.N (mm^−1)	(1.6 ± 0.4)	1.1 ± 0.6	0.3–3.2
Tb.S (μm)	(522 ± 106)	1162.3 ± 766.8	264.4–3207.1
MAR (μm/day)	(0.505 ± 0.14)	0.58 ± 0.25	0.12–0.95

BV, bone volume; TV, trabecular volume; OS, osteoid surface; BS, bone surface; Ob.S, osteoblast surface; ES, eroded surface; O.Th, osteoid thickness; Tb.Th, trabecular thickness; Tb.N, trabecular number; Tb.S, trabecular separation; MAR, mineral apposition rate.

Table II.  Number of patients with idiopathic osteoporosis divided into groups with decreased, normal, or increased measured histomorphometric parameters with respect to reference values (presented in Table I).

Parameter	No. of patients
	Decreased values	Normal values	Increased values
BV/TV (%)	4	28	0
OS/BS (%)	8	7	17
O.Th (μm)	24	6	2
Ob.S/BS (%)	11	7	14
ES/BS (%)	10	14	8
Tb.Th (μm)	7	8	17
Tb.N (mm^−1)	20	10	2
Tb.S (μm)	3	6	23
MAR (μm/day)	8	9	15

BV, bone volume; OS, osteoid surface; BS, bone surface; O.Th, osteoid thickness; Ob.S, osteoblast surface; ES, eroded surface; Tb.Th, trabecular thickness; Tb.N, trabecular number; Tb.S, trabecular separation; MAR, mineral apposition rate.

Figure 1.  Box-plot graphs for bone volume (BV/TV, %), osteoid surface (OS/BS, %), osteoid thickness (O.Th, μm), osteoblast surface (Ob.S/BS, %) eroded surface (ES/BS, %), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th, μm); trabecular number (Tb.N, mm⁻¹); trabecular separation (Tb.S, μm); according to reduced, normal and increased mineral apposition rate (MAR, μm/day) in 32 male patients with idiopathic osteoporosis are presented as medians and quartiles, with indicated outliers (O) and extreme values (*). Horizontal lines indicate reference range (1 SD).

Table III.  Comparison of patients with decreased, normal, and increased mineral apposition rate (MAR) for osteoblast surface (ObS/BS), eroded surface (ES/BS), and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th).

Parameter	Median MAR (range)
	Decreased 0.29 (0.12–0.32), (n = 8)	Normal 0.47 (0.38–0.62), (n = 9)	Increased 0.80 (0.67–0.95), (n = 15)
Ob.S/BS (%)	3.0 (0.8–5.2)*	4.5 (1.2–10.0)^†	9.5 (1.6–18.1)
ES/BS (%)	1.3 (0.1–4.1)^‡,^§	3.1 (1.7–4.2)	5.2 (1.0–14.3)
Tb.Th (μm)	247.2 (85.9–525.0)^¶	112.4 (52.6–213.3)	151.3 (64.7–364.3)

*Decreased vs. increased, Mann–Whitney test, p = 0.002.

^†Normal vs. increased, Mann–Whitney test, p = 0.02.

^‡Decreased vs. normal group, Mann–Whitney test, p = 0.04.

^§Decreased vs. increased, Mann–Whitney test, p = 0.01.

^¶Decreased vs. normal group, Mann–Whitney test, p = 0.02.