Nanoscale mechanisms in age-related hip-fractures
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Nanoscale mineralized collagen fibrils may be important determinants of whole-bone mechanical properties and contribute to the risk of age-related fractures. In a cross-sectional study nano-and tissue-level mechanics were compared across trabecular sections from the proximal femora of three groups(n=10 each): ageing non-fractured donors (Controls);untreated fracture patients (Fx-Untreated); bisphosphonate-treated fracture patients (Fx-BisTreated).Collagen fibril, mineral and tissue mechanics were measured using synchrotron X-Ray diffraction,of bone sections under load. Mechanical data were compared across groups, and tissue-level data were regressed against nano. Compared to controls fracture patients exhibited significantly lower critical strain, max strain and normalized strength, with lower peak collagen and mineral strain. Bisphosphonate-treated exhibited the lowest properties. In all three groups, peak mineral strain coincided with maximum tissue strength (i.e. ultimate stress), whilst peak fibril strain occurred afterwards(i.e. higher strain). Tissue strain and strength were positively and strongly correlated with peak fibril and mineral strains. Age-related fractures were associated with lower peak fibril and mineral strain irrespective of treatment. Indicating earlier mineral disengagement and the subsequent onset of fibril sliding is one of the key mechanisms leading to fracture. Treatments for fragility should target collagen-mineral interactions to restore nano-scale strain to that of healthy bone.
Date Issued
2020-08-26
Date Acceptance
2020-07-13
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2020, 10 (14208), pp.1-14
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Start Page
1
End Page
14
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
10
Issue
14208
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2020. Tis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or
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Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Te images or other third party material in this
article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or
format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the
Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Te images or other third party material in this
article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Sponsor
National Osteoporosis Society
Identifier
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69783-5
Grant Number
REF: 402
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-08-26