Role of bone turnover in microdamage

Excerpt

Turnover of cells and matrix occurs in a wide spectrum of organs and tissues and is essential to maintenance of tissue integrity. In bone, a major function of osteonal remodeling is to maintain tissue, wherein remodeling serves to remove and replace microscopic regions of compact bone that have reached the end of their functional life. Perhaps the best characterized circumstance in which bone reaches the end of its functional life is when it sustains microdamage due to fatigue. Left undetected and unrepaired, microdamage in bone leads to compromised mechanical properties and bone fragility. Recently, with wide clinical usage of drugs which turn off bone remodeling globally, a number of authors [1, 2] have raised concerns about whether inhibition of bone remodeling will predispose to the accumulation of matrix damage, leading to increased bone fragility. Accordingly, examination of factors that influence detection and repair of microdamage is fundamental to understanding skeletal health and disease. …