In: Anatomy and Physiology
Compare & contrast bone remodeling in cortical bone & trabecular bone.
Ans) The trabecular bone and cortical bone have different bone remodelling levels, and their underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. After a study, it was found that the expression level of most of the genes were higher in trabecular bone than in cortical bone in wild type mice. The trabecular bone is also known as cancellous or spongy bone. The cortical bone is much denser than trabecular bone.
Both the bones differ in the degree to which they are calcified, cortical bone is 80-90% calcified, whereas trabecular bone is only 15-25% calcified by volume. Cortical bone is better suited for the function of support and protection and trabecular bone is better suited to the metabolic functions of the bone. Cortical bone is found in the shafts of long and short bones and on the outside of flat and irregular bones. Trabecular bone is found in the epiphysis of long bones. Resistance to fracture is higher in cortical bone than trabecular bone.