Heather Ting Ma1,2, James F. Griffith2,
Li Xu3, Ping-Chung Leung2
1Harbin Institute of
Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, People's
Republic of; 2The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China,
People's Republic of; 3Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China,
People's Republic of
Bone is an architecturally adaptive tissue which responds to mechanical loading and the concept functional muscle-bone unit has been proposed to reflect this muscle-bone interaction. This study utilizes the functional muscle-bone unit to evaluate the interaction between lumbar bone strength and muscle mass in young normal subjects and elderly females of varying bone mineral density (BMD). It shows that as bone becomes osteoporotic there is relative muscle mass acting on it per unit bone mass. This may be contributory to the occurrence of non-traumatic vertebral fractures in elderly subjects with reduced BMD.
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