A new comprehensive approach for bone remodeling under medium and high mechanical load based on cellular activity

Abstract

Most of the last century, bone remodeling models have been proposed based on the observation that bone density is dependent on the intensity of the applied mechanical loads. Most of these cortical or trabecular bone remodeling models are related to the osteocyte mechanosensitivity, and they all have a direct correlation between the bone mineral density and the mechanical strain energy. However, experiments on human athletes show that high-intensity sport activity tends not to increase bone mineral density but rather has a negative impact. Therefore, it appears that the optimum bone mineral density would develop for “medium”-intensity activity (or medium mechanical loads) and not for the highest-intensity one.