Altered mechanical environment of bone cells in an animal model of short- and long-term osteoporosis.

Alterations in bone tissue composition during osteoporosis likely disrupt the mechanical environment of bone cells and may thereby initiate a mechanobiological response. It has proved challenging to characterize the mechanical environment of bone cells in vivo, and the mechanical environment of osteoporotic bone cells is not known. The objective of this research is to characterize the local mechanical environment of osteocytes and osteoblasts from healthy and osteoporotic bone in a rat model of osteoporosis.

Thermally induced osteocyte damage initiates a remodelling signaling cascade.

Thermal elevations experienced by bone during orthopaedic procedures, such as cutting and drilling, exothermal reactions from bone cement, and thermal therapies such as tumor ablation, can result in thermal damage leading to death of native bone cells (osteocytes, osteoblasts, osteoclasts and mesenchymal stem cells). Osteocytes are believed to be the orchestrators of bone remodeling, which recruit nearby osteoclast and osteoblasts to control resorption and bone growth in response to mechanical stimuli and physical damage. However, whether heat-induced osteocyte damage can directly elicit bone remodelling has yet to be determined.