Wang Qingju, Seeman Ego
Endocrine Centre, Centaur Building, Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital/Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Oct;22(5):687-700. doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2008.07.008.
Bone size, shape and internal architecture, and not just bone mass, account for differences in bone strength between individuals, sexes and races. The differences in bone morphology in old age - whether an individual's bone size and mass occupy the 5th, 50th or 95th percentile - is determined early in life. Bone traits track from the position established early in life. Genetic and environmental factors establish the morphological features of bone through the cellular machinery of bone modelling and remodelling which adapts bone to its loading circumstance by modifying its size and shape and the distribution of its mass. The need for both strength for loading and lightness for mobility are achieved by deposition of bone where it is needed and removal of bone from where it is not. The machinery has enormous capacity during growth, as can be seen in the bone structure of the elite athlete, but not during advancing age because of changes in the cellular machinery itself and in systemic hormonal regulatory factors.
骨骼的大小、形状和内部结构，而非仅仅是骨量，决定了个体、性别和种族之间骨骼强度的差异。老年时骨骼形态的差异——即个体的骨骼大小和骨量处于第5、第50还是第95百分位——在生命早期就已确定。骨骼特征会从生命早期确立的状态持续存在。遗传和环境因素通过骨骼建模和重塑的细胞机制来塑造骨骼的形态特征，这种机制通过改变骨骼的大小、形状及其质量分布，使骨骼适应其负荷情况。通过在需要的部位沉积骨骼以及在不需要的部位去除骨骼，既满足了负荷所需的强度，又满足了活动所需的轻盈性。在生长过程中，这种机制具有巨大的能力，这在精英运动员的骨骼结构中可见一斑，但在年龄增长过程中并非如此，这是由于细胞机制本身以及全身激素调节因子发生了变化。
