An image analysis method was developed for analysis of bone structure as a function of distance from the periosteum. The method was used to examine the transition from cortical to cancellous bone and the effects of experimental treatments on bone structure, in sections of lumbar vertebral body from adult female cynomolgus monkeys. Bone volumeltissue volume (BV/TV) decreased, and bone surface1 volume ratio (BS/BV) increased from the periosteum toward the central cancellous bone. There were no abrupt transitions in either BV/TV or BS/BV, indicating that there were no clearly delineated boundaries between cortical, transitional, and cancellous bone, but rather a continuous transition in bone structure from the periosteal surface towards the center of the vertebral marrow cavity. BV/TV was lower, and BS/BV higher, in ovariectomized (ovx) than in sham-ovariectomized animals, but the greatest effect was in the transitional region between the cortical and cancellous bone. BV/TV was also higher in ovx animals treated with nandrolone decanoate than in ovx animals treated with placebo. The cortical and transitional regions, as well as cancellous bone, react to experimental manipulations, and probably contribute significantly to the resulting changes in bone strength. (The J Histotechno 20:191, 1997)
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Jerome et al. (1997) studied this question.
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