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Liu C, Cyphert EL, Stephen SJ, Wang B, Morales AL, Nixon JC, Natsoulas NR, Garcia M, Blazquez Carmona P, Vill AC, Donnelly EL, Brito IL, Vashishth D, Hernandez CJ. Microbiome-induced Increases and Decreases in Bone Tissue Strength can be Initiated After Skeletal Maturity. bioRxiv 2024:2024.01.03.574074. [PMID: 38260539 PMCID: PMC10802367 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.03.574074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Recent studies in mice have indicated that the gut microbiome can regulate bone tissue strength. However, prior work involved modifications to the gut microbiome in growing animals and it is unclear if the same changes in the microbiome, applied later in life, would change matrix strength. Here we changed the composition of the gut microbiome before and/or after skeletal maturity (16 weeks of age) using oral antibiotics (ampicillin + neomycin). Male and female mice (n=143 total, n=12-17/group/sex) were allocated into five study groups:1) Unaltered, 2) Continuous (dosing 4-24 weeks of age), 3) Delayed (dosing only 16-24 weeks of age), 4) Initial (dosing 4-16 weeks of age, suspended at 16 weeks), and 5) Reconstituted (dosing from 4-16 weeks following by fecal microbiota transplant from Unaltered donors). Animals were euthanized at 24 weeks of age. In males, bone matrix strength in the femur was 25-35% less than expected from geometry in mice from the Continuous (p= 0.001), Delayed (p= 0.005), and Initial (p=0.040) groups as compared to Unaltered. Reconstitution of the gut microbiota, however, led to a bone matrix strength similar to Unaltered animals (p=0.929). In females, microbiome-induced changes in bone matrix strength followed the same trend as males but were not significantly different, demonstrating sex-related differences in the response of bone matrix to the gut microbiota. Minor differences in chemical composition of bone matrix were observed (Raman spectroscopy). Our findings indicate that microbiome-induced impairment of bone matrix in males can be initiated and/or reversed after skeletal maturity. The portion of the femoral cortical bone formed after skeletal maturity (16 weeks) is small; however, this suggests that microbiome-induced changes in bone matrix occur without osteoblast/osteoclast turnover using an, as of yet unidentified mechanism. These findings add to evidence that the mechanical properties of bone matrix can be altered in the adult skeleton.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Liu
- Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - E L Cyphert
- Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - S J Stephen
- Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA
| | - B Wang
- Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA
| | - A L Morales
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - J C Nixon
- Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA
- Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Reseach Division, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA
- Rensselaer - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine, New York, NY
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco, CA, US
| | - N R Natsoulas
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - M Garcia
- Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | | | - A C Vill
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - E L Donnelly
- Department of Material Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Reseach Division, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA
| | - I L Brito
- Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - D Vashishth
- Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA
- Rensselaer - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine, New York, NY
| | - C J Hernandez
- Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco, CA, US
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