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A cross-sectional study of bone nanomechanics in hip fracture and aging

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Title: A cross-sectional study of bone nanomechanics in hip fracture and aging
Authors: Stavri, R
Tay, T
Wiles, CC
Di Federico, E
Boughton, O
Ma, S
Karunaratne, A
Churchwell, JH
Bhattacharya, R
Terrill, NJ
Cobb, JP
Hansen, U
Abel, RL
Item Type: Journal Article
Abstract: Bone mechanics is well understood at every length scale except the nano-level. We aimed to investigate the relationship between bone nanoscale and tissue-level mechanics experimentally. We tested two hypotheses: (1) nanoscale strains were lower in hip fracture patients versus controls, and (2) nanoscale mineral and fibril strains were inversely correlated with aging and fracture. A cross-sectional sample of trabecular bone sections was prepared from the proximal femora of two human donor groups (aged 44–94 years): an aging non-fracture control group (n = 17) and a hip-fracture group (n = 20). Tissue, fibril, and mineral strain were measured simultaneously using synchrotron X-ray diffraction during tensile load to failure, then compared between groups using unpaired t-tests and correlated with age using Pearson’s correlation. Controls exhibited significantly greater peak tissue, mineral, and fibril strains than the hip fracture (all p < 0.05). Age was associated with a decrease in peak tissue (p = 0.099) and mineral (p = 0.004) strain, but not fibril strain (p = 0.260). Overall, hip fracture and aging were associated with changes in the nanoscale strain that are reflected at the tissue level. Data must be interpreted within the limitations of the observational cross-sectional study design, so we propose two new hypotheses on the importance of nanomechanics. (1) Hip fracture risk is increased by low tissue strain, which can be caused by low collagen or mineral strain. (2) Age-related loss of tissue strain is dependent on the loss of mineral but not fibril strain. Novel insights into bone nano- and tissue-level mechanics could provide a platform for the development of bone health diagnostics and interventions based on failure mechanisms from the nanoscale up.
Issue Date: 13-Jun-2023
Date of Acceptance: 23-May-2023
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/107192
DOI: 10.3390/life13061378
ISSN: 2075-1729
Publisher: MDPI AG
Journal / Book Title: Life
Volume: 13
Issue: 6
Copyright Statement: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Publication Status: Published
Article Number: 1378
Online Publication Date: 2023-06-13
Appears in Collections:Mechanical Engineering
Department of Surgery and Cancer
Faculty of Medicine



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