Bone mass and geometry of the tibia and the radius of master sprinters, middle and long distance runners, race-walkers and sedentary control participants: A pQCT study

Abstract Mechanical loading is thought to be a determinant of bone mass and geometry. Both ground reaction forces and tibial strains increase with running speed. This study investigates the hypothesis that surrogates of bone strength in male and female master sprinters, middle and long distance runn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Bone (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 91 - 97
Main Authors:	Wilks, D.C, Winwood, K, Gilliver, S.F, Kwiet, A, Chatfield, M, Michaelis, I, Sun, L.W, Ferretti, J.L, Sargeant, A.J, Felsenberg, D, Rittweger, J
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-07-2009 Elsevier Elsevier Science
Subjects:	Adult Aged Aged, 80 and over Biological and medical sciences Bone strength Case-Control Studies Diaphyses - anatomy & histology Exercise Exercise - physiology Female Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Humans Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects) Male Medical sciences Middle Aged Organ Size Orthopedics Osteoarticular system. Muscles Puberty Race-walking Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry Radius - anatomy & histology Radius - diagnostic imaging Running - physiology Tibia - anatomy & histology Tibia - diagnostic imaging Tomography, X-Ray Computed Track and field runners Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems Veteran athletes Volumetric bone mineral density Walking - physiology Exercise Race-walking Veteran athletes Track and field runners Bone strength Volumetric bone mineral density Physical exercise Human Radius Long distance Athlete Epidemiology Geometry Walking Bone mass Tibia Morphology Race Bone mineral density Bone Veteran Sedentary Strength
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Summary:	Abstract Mechanical loading is thought to be a determinant of bone mass and geometry. Both ground reaction forces and tibial strains increase with running speed. This study investigates the hypothesis that surrogates of bone strength in male and female master sprinters, middle and long distance runners and race-walkers vary according to discipline-specific mechanical loading from sedentary controls. Bone scans were obtained by peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) from the tibia and from the radius in 106 sprinters, 52 middle distance runners, 93 long distance runners and 49 race-walkers who were competing at master championships, and who were aged between 35 and 94 years. Seventy-five age-matched, sedentary people served as control group. Most athletes of this study had started to practice their athletic discipline after the age of 20, but the current training regime had typically been maintained for more than a decade. As hypothesised, tibia diaphyseal bone mineral content (vBMC), cortical area and polar moment of resistance were largest in sprinters, followed in descending order by middle and long distance runners, race-walkers and controls. When compared to control people, the differences in these measures were always > 13% in male and > 23% in female sprinters ( p < 0.001). Similarly, the periosteal circumference in the tibia shaft was larger in male and female sprinters by 4% and 8%, respectively, compared to controls ( p < 0.001). Epiphyseal group differences were predominantly found for trabecular vBMC in both male and female sprinters, who had 15% and 18% larger values, respectively, than controls ( p < 0.001). In contrast, a reverse pattern was found for cortical vBMD in the tibia, and only few group differences of lower magnitude were found between athletes and control people for the radius. In conclusion, tibial bone strength indicators seemed to be related to exercise-specific peak forces, whilst cortical density was inversely related to running distance. These results may be explained in two, non-exclusive ways. Firstly, greater skeletal size may allow larger muscle forces and power to be exerted, and thus bias towards engagement in athletics. Secondly, musculoskeletal forces related to running can induce skeletal adaptation and thus enhance bone strength.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	8756-3282 1873-2763
DOI:	10.1016/j.bone.2009.03.660