Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland.
J Orthop Res. 2012 Mar;30(3):435-42. doi: 10.1002/jor.21538. Epub 2011 Aug 22.
The organization and composition of the collagen matrix of cortical bone changes as the bone matures due to growth and mechanical loading. We aimed to investigate the composition and organization of the collagen matrix in rabbit cortical bone during maturation using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy and polarized light microscopy (PLM). FTIR and PLM findings were compared to biochemical analysis from an earlier study. Mid-diaphyseal samples from left femora of female New Zealand White rabbits were used. The animal age ranged from newborn to 18-month old (5 age groups, n = 10 per group). The bones had earlier been decalcified and evaluated with biochemistry. In this study, collagen content, orientation, collagen cross-linking and spatial heterogeneity of all parameters was evaluated. Similar results were obtained when collagen content was evaluated with FTIR and PLM compared to the collagen content assessed with BA. Collagen content, orientation and collagen maturity increased significantly until the age of 3 months and remained similar thereafter. Simultaneously, spatial heterogeneity of the measured parameters decreased. Based on these findings, it seems that the collagen matrix of rabbit bone attains its mature state around 3 months of age, which is before the overall skeletal maturity is reached.
皮质骨的胶原基质的组织和组成会随着骨骼的生长和机械加载而成熟发生变化。我们旨在使用傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）微光谱和偏光显微镜（PLM）研究兔皮质骨在成熟过程中胶原基质的组成和组织。FTIR 和 PLM 的发现与早期研究的生化分析进行了比较。使用来自雌性新西兰白兔左股骨的中间骨干样本。动物年龄从新生到 18 个月（5 个年龄组，每组 10 只）不等。这些骨头先前已经脱钙，并进行了生化评估。在这项研究中，评估了所有参数的胶原含量、取向、胶原交联和空间异质性。与 BA 评估的胶原含量相比，FTIR 和 PLM 评估的胶原含量具有相似的结果。胶原含量、取向和胶原成熟度在 3 个月前显著增加，此后保持相似。同时，测量参数的空间异质性降低。根据这些发现，似乎兔骨的胶原基质在 3 个月左右达到成熟状态，这早于整体骨骼成熟。
