Water flow through bone: Neutron tomography reveals differences in water permeability between osteocytic and anosteocytic bone material

Andreia Silveira, Nikolay Kardjilov, Henning Markötter, Elena Longo, Imke Greving, Peter Lasch, Ron Shahar, Paul Zaslansky*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Vertebrate bones are made of a nanocomposite consisting of water, mineral and organics. Water helps bone material withstand mechanical stress and participates in sensation of external loads. Water diffusion across vertebrae of medaka (bone material lacking osteocytes) and zebrafish (bone material containing osteocytes) was compared using neutron tomography. Samples were measured both wet and following immersion in deuterated-water (D2O). By quantifying H+ exchange and mutual alignment with X-ray µCT scans, the amount of water expelled from complete vertebra was determined. The findings revealed that anosteocytic bone material is almost twice as amenable to D2O diffusion and H2O exchange, and that unexpectedly, far more water is retained in osteocytic zebrafish bone. Diffusion in osteocytic bones (only 33 % – 39 % water expelled) is therefore restricted as compared to anosteocytic bone (∼ 60 % of water expelled), presumably because water flow is confined to the lacunar-canalicular network (LCN) open-pore system. Histology and Raman spectroscopy showed that anosteocytic bone contains less proteoglycans than osteocytic bone. These findings identify a previously unknown functional difference between the two bone materials. Therefore, this study proposes that osteocytic bone retains water, aided by non-collagenous proteins, which contribute to its poroelastic mechano-transduction of water flow confined inside the LCN porosity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111275
JournalMaterials and Design
Volume224
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

  • Anosteocytic bone
  • Bone porosity
  • Neutron tomography
  • Proteoglycans
  • Water permeability

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