Histomorphometric analysis of the trabecular bone parameters in the femur.

*<p>indicates main effect of sex (p<0.05);</p>#<p>indicates p<0.05 for within-sex comparisons (sedentary <i>vs.</i> trained animals).</p

General characteristics of the animals.

*<p>indicates main effect of sex (p<0.0001);</p>#<p>indicates p<0.05 for within-sex comparisons with both the initial values and with the final speed of the sedentary animals.</p

Illustrative bone histological characteristics of sedentary and trained animals.

<p><u>1A–1D. Undecalcified Bone</u>: Characteristic light microscopy aspects of trabecular bone (femoral metaphysis). Toluidine blue staining showing an increase in the trabecular bone volume (BV/TV) and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) in the trained animals (B and D) compared with their sedentary counterparts (A and C). The epiphyseal growth plate is indicated by arrows. Histomorphometric analyses were performed at 195 µm under the epiphyseal growth plate (Magnification, x40). <u>1E–1H. Double oxytetracycline labeling</u>: Characteristic fluorescent light microscopy of undecalcified bone (femoral metaphysis). Unstained bone sections under UV light of the sedentary (E and G) and trained (F and H) animals. Single and double labels are indicated by the single and double arrows, respectively. By quantifying the distance between the oxytetracycline double-labels, we observed that the trained males (H) presented a greater mineral apposition rate (MAR) than the sedentary males (G) and trained females (F). By evaluating the percentage of the trabecular bone surface that was double-labeled, we calculated the bone formation rate (BFR/BS), which was increased only in the trained males (H) (Magnification, x250). Details of the histomorphometric results can be found in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0064725#pone-0064725-t004" target="_blank">Table 4</a>.</p

Description and sequences of the genes selected for the study.

<p>NM: NCBI accession number; TRAP: tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase.</p

mRNA expression of COL I (panel A) and TRAP (panel B) (data are expressed as the mean and SEM).

<p><b>*</b>indicates p<0.05 when compared with their sedentary counterparts (within-sex comparisons).</p

Summary of the sex-specific exercise-induced changes in bone-related general characteristics, and mechanical, histomorphometric, and molecular parameters.

<p>The “within-sex” column indicates the differences induced by exercise training either in female or male rats. The “between-sex” column indicates the differences in sex irrespective of training (i.e. main effect of sex).</p

Correlation of serum sclerostin and bone volume (BV/TV) among sham, Nx+PTx 0.6% and Nx+PTx 1.2% groups.

<p>Nx+PTx: 5/6 nephrectomy and total parathyroidectomy.</p