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      Functional integration of skeletal traits: An intraskeletal assessment of bone size, mineralization, and volume covariance

      research-article
      a , * , b
      Bone
      Bone, Robustness, Functional morphology, Cortical area, Mineralization

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          Abstract

          Understanding the functional integration of skeletal traits and how they naturally vary within and across populations will benefit assessments of functional adaptation directed towards interpreting bone stiffness in contemporary and past humans. Moreover, investigating how these traits intraskeletally vary will guide us closer towards predicting fragility from a single skeletal site. Using an osteological collection of 115 young adult male and female African-Americans, we assessed the functional relationship between bone robustness (i.e. total area/length), cortical tissue mineral density (Ct.TMD), and cortical area (Ct.Ar) for the upper and lower limbs. All long bones demonstrated significant trait covariance (p < 0.005) independent of body size, with slender bones having 25–50% less Ct.Ar and 5–8% higher Ct.TMD compared to robust bones. Robustness statistically explained 10.2–28% of Ct.TMD and 26.6–64.6% of Ct.Ar within male and female skeletal elements. This covariance is systemic throughout the skeleton, with either the slender or robust phenotype consistently represented within all long bones for each individual. These findings suggest that each person attains a unique trait set by adulthood that is both predictable by robustness and partially independent of environmental influences. The variation in these functionally integrated traits allows for the maximization of tissue stiffness and minimization of mass so that regardless of which phenotype is present, a given bone is reasonably stiff and strong, and sufficiently adapted to perform routine, habitual loading activities. Covariation intrinsic to functional adaptation suggests that whole bone stiffness depends upon particular sets of traits acquired during growth, presumably through differing levels of cellular activity, resulting in differing tissue morphology and composition. The outcomes of this intraskeletal examination of robustness and its correlates may have significant value in our progression towards improved clinical assessments of bone strength and fragility.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          8504048
          1710
          Bone
          Bone
          Bone
          8756-3282
          1873-2763
          29 June 2020
          27 May 2013
          September 2013
          19 July 2020
          : 56
          : 1
          : 127-138
          Affiliations
          [a ]Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Michigan, 2148 Biomedical Science Research Building, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
          [b ]Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Michigan, 2007 Biomedical Science Research Building, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
          Author notes
          [* ]Corresponding author: sschlech@ 123456med.umich.edu (S.H. Schlecht).
          Article
          PMC7368883 PMC7368883 7368883 nihpa1607411
          10.1016/j.bone.2013.05.012
          7368883
          23721816
          bc0ce0b9-1e9d-4108-a8fd-455c370b7381
          History
          Categories
          Article

          Cortical area,Mineralization,Functional morphology,Bone,Robustness

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