Osteonal effects on elastic modulus and fatigue life in equine bone.
Abstract: We hypothesized that recently formed, incompletely mineralized, and thus, relatively deformable osteons in the equine third metacarpus enhance in vitro load-controlled fatigue life in two ways. Macroscopically, there is a compliance effect, because reduced tissue elastic modulus diminishes the stress required to reach a given strain. Microscopically, there is a cement line effect, in which new osteons and their cement lines more effectively serve as barriers to crack propagation. We studied 18 4 x 10 x 100 mm beams from the medial, lateral, and dorsal cortices of metacarpal bones from 6 thoroughbred racehorses. Following load-controlled fatigue testing to fracture in 4 point bending, a transverse, 100 microm thick, basic fuchsin-stained cross-section was taken from the load-bearing region. The number and diameter of all intact (and thus recently formed/compliant) secondary osteons in a 3.8 x 3.8 mm region in the center of the section were determined. The associated area fraction and cement line length of intact osteons were calculated, and the relationships between these variables, elastic modulus (E), and the logarithm of fatigue life (logN(F)) were analyzed. As expected, logN(F) was negatively correlated with E, which was in turn negatively correlated with intact osteon area fraction and density. (LogN(F))/E increased in proportion to intact osteon density and nonlinearly with cement line density (mm/mm(2)). These results support the hypothesis that remodeling extends load-controlled fatigue life both through the creation of osteonal barriers to microdamage propagation and modulus reduction.
Publication Date: 2005-01-26 PubMed ID: 16321623DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2004.12.002Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This research article investigates how newly formed, less mineralized osteons (circular units of bone) in horse metacarpal bones impact the bone’s resistance to fatigue and ability to withstand stress. The study analyzed beams of these bones from six thoroughbred racehorses, considering variables such as elastic modulus (a measure of stiffness), density and area of osteons, and length of cement lines (lines that divide osteons), and how these factors contribute to the bone’s fatigue life.
Article Overview
- The research hypothesizes that recently formed, incompletely mineralized osteons in equine metacarpal bones extend the lifespan of the bones under controlled load conditions.
- The study proposes two mechanics through which these young osteons achieve this:
- Macroscopically, there is the compliance effect – a reduced tissue elastic modulus means lower stress is required to reach a specific strain, enhancing the bone’s endurance.
- Microscopically, newly formed osteons and their cement lines effectively serve as barriers to crack propagation, preventing fractures from spreading.
- The research involves a thorough analysis of the osteons and cement lines in the medial, lateral, dorsal cortices of metacarpal bones from thoroughbred racehorses.
- An intricate procedure was followed to determine the number, diameter, area fraction, and the cement line length of intact, recently formed secondary osteons.
- This data was then compiled and the relationships between these variables and the bone’s elastic modulus were analyzed.
Research Findings
- The results indicated that fatigue life (represented by logN(F)) was negatively correlated with the bone’s elastic modulus, which in turn was negatively correlated with the intact osteon area fraction and density.
- The increase in fatigue life relative to the elastic modulus was found to be proportional to the density of intact osteons and increased nonlinearly with cement line density.
- The findings of the study support the initial hypothesis that increased remodeling – the process of formation of new osteons – extends the bones’ lifespan when under controlled loading by creating osteonal barriers to microdamage propagation and reducing the modulus of elasticity.
Cite This Article
APA
Gibson VA, Stover SM, Gibeling JC, Hazelwood SJ, Martin RB.
(2005).
Osteonal effects on elastic modulus and fatigue life in equine bone.
J Biomech, 39(2), 217-225.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2004.12.002 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, School of Medicine, UC Davis Medical Center, 4635 Second Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Cell Count
- Cells, Cultured
- Compressive Strength / physiology
- Elasticity
- Haversian System / cytology
- Haversian System / physiology
- Horses / physiology
- In Vitro Techniques
- Tensile Strength / physiology
- Weight-Bearing / physiology
Citations
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- Azizi S, Goodarzi N, Ghaderi S. Morphometric, histometric and elemental profile of the metacarpal and metatarsal bones in adult Sanjabi sheep. Vet Res Forum 2025;16(5):293-300.
- Lamarche BA, Thomsen JS, Andreasen CM, Andersen TL, Lievers WB. Trabecular bone structural units and their cement lines change with age, bone volume fraction, structure, and strength in female human vertebrae. JBMR Plus 2025 Jan;9(1):ziae143.
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