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Effects of chair restraint on the strength of the tibia in rhesus monkeys
Author(s) -
Hutchinson Teresa M.,
Bakulin Alexy V.,
Rakhmanov Alexander S.,
Martin R. Bruce,
Steele Charles R.,
Arnaud Sara B.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of medical primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1600-0684
pISSN - 0047-2565
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0684.2001.300605.x
Subject(s) - tibia , body weight , medicine , zoology , anatomy , biology
To determine the effects of the relative inactivity and unloading on the strength of the tibias of monkeys, Macaca mulatta , we used a non‐invasive test to measure bending stiffness, or EI (Nm 2 ), a mechanical property. The technique was validated by comparisons of in vivo measurements with standard measures of EI in the same bones post‐mortem ( r 2 =0.95, P <0.0001). Inter‐test precision was 4.28±1.4%. Normative data in 24 monkeys, 3.0±0.7 years and 3.6±0.6 kg, revealed EI to be 16% higher in the right than left tibia (4.4±1.6 vs. 3.7±1.6 Nm 2 , P <0.05). Five monkeys, restrained in chairs for 14 days, showed decreases in EI . There were no changes in EI in two chaired monkeys that lost weight during a 2‐week space flight. The factors that account for both the decreases in bone mechanical properties after chair restraint at 1 g and lack of change after microgravity remain to be identified. Metabolic factors associated with body weight changes are suggested by our results.