Association Between Muscle Power and Bone Strength in Healthy Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Optimal bone strength may reduce fracture risk, yet there is no easy to administer field measurement for bone health. The simplicity of testing lower limb power and the relationship between muscle and bone make it a potential choice for a screening tool. PURPOSE: To analyze the association between muscle power and bone strength in healthy children, adolescents, and adults. METHODS: The meta-analysis protocol was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-2020 guidelines. A modified PICO strategy, including population, measurement tool, and outcome measures, was used to develop the research question and guide eligibility criteria. Searches using 4 key concepts; “muscle power”, “bone strength”, “pQCT” or “3D DXA”, and “human”, including the MeSH terms, were completed on the databases including CINAHL, Web of Science, SportDiscus, PubMed, and Cochrane library. Four reviewers then used the inclusion and exclusion criteria to review the articles. RESULTS: 761 studies were screened and only 14 met the criteria for data extraction. A preliminary analysis of 9 articles using R software and the random-effects model included 1,136 total participants. Heterogeneity values for this pilot dataset, I2=89.0438 [74.7645-96.8668], indicated high heterogeneity. Rank Correlation Test for Funnel Plot Asymmetry tested for publication bias yielding a non-significant Kendall’s tau = 0.3333, p=0.2595. Correlation coefficients between bone strength (polar strength strain index (SSIp)), and muscle power from a vertical jump test revealed a correlation coefficient of (0.687 [0.47, 0.927]). CONCLUSION: The standard clinical tool for determining bone health is currently DXA which is not capable of assessing bone architecture, a key determinant of bone strength. If muscle power is an adequate predictor of 3D bone strength, which is an easily testable parameter identifiable through common equipment such as vertical jump using a vertec, then a simple, cheap, and efficient field test could be developed

The Distribution of Macroalgae in Furman Lake

A three page summary by four Furman students describing their research on macroalge in the Furman Lake. The goal is to test whether or not the restoration efforts have significantly changed the algae cover in the lake.https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/lake-documents/1014/thumbnail.jp

Tibia functionality and Division II female and male collegiate athletes from multiple sports

Background Bone strength is developed through a combination of the size and shape (architecture) of a bone as well as the bone’s material properties; and therefore, no one outcome variable can measure a positive or negative adaptation in bone. Skeletal robusticity (total area/ bone length) a measure of bones external size varies within the population and is independent of body size, but robusticity has been associated with bone strength. Athletes may have similar variability in robusticity values as the general population and thus have a wide range of bone strengths based on the robustness of their bones. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if an athlete’s bone strength and cortical area relative to body size was dependent on robusticity. The second aim was to determine if anthropometry or muscle function measurements were associated with bone robusticity. Methods Bone variables contributing to bone strength were measured in collegiate athletes and a reference group using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) at the 50% tibial site. Bone functionality was assessed by plotting bone strength and cortical area vs body size (body weight x tibial length) and robustness (total area/length) vs body size. Bone strength was measured using the polar strength-strain index (SSIp). Based on the residuals from the regression, an athlete’s individual functionality was determined, and two groups were formed “weaker for size” (WS) and “stronger for size” (SS). Grip strength, leg extensor strength and lower body power were also measured. Results Division II athletes exhibited a natural variation in (SSIp) relative to robusticity consistent with previous studies. Bone strength (SSIp) was dependent on the robusticity of the tibia. The bone traits that comprise bone strength (SSIp) were significantly different between the SS and WS groups, yet there were minimal differences in the anthropometric data and muscle function measures between groups. A lower percentage of athletes from ball sports were “weaker for size” (WS group) and a higher percentage of swimmers were in the WS group. Discussion A range of strength values based on robusticity occurs in athletes similar to general populations. Bones with lower robusticity (slender) were constructed with less bone tissue and had less strength. The athletes with slender bones were from all sports including track and field and ball sports but the majority were swimmers. Conclusions Athletes, even after optimal training for their sport, may have weaker bones based on robusticity. Slender bones may therefore be at a higher risk for fracture under extreme loading events but also yield benefits to some athletes (swimmers) due to their lower bone mass

Abrogation of Cbl–PI3K Interaction Increases Bone Formation and Osteoblast Proliferation

Cbl is an adaptor protein and E3 ligase that plays both positive and negative roles in several signaling pathways that affect various cellular functions. Tyrosine 737 is unique to Cbl and phosphorylated by Src family kinases. Phosphorylated CblY737 creates a binding site for the p85 regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) that also plays an important role in the regulation of bone homeostasis. To investigate the role of Cbl–PI3K interaction in bone homeostasis, we examined knock-in mice in which the PI3K binding site on Cbl was ablated due to the substitution of tyrosine 737 to phenylalanine (CblYF/YF, YF mice). We previously reported that bone volume in these mice is increased due to decreased osteoclast function (Adapala et al., J Biol Chem 285:36745–36758, 19). Here, we report that YF mice also have increased bone formation and osteoblast numbers. In ex vivo cultures bone marrow-derived YF osteoblasts showed increased Col1A expression and their proliferation was also significantly augmented. Moreover, proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells was increased after treatment with conditioned medium generated by culturing YF bone marrow stromal cells. Expression of stromal derived factor-1 (SDF-1) was increased in YF bone marrow stromal cells compared to wild type. Increased immunostaining of SDF-1 and CXCR4 was observed in YF bone marrow stromal cells compared to wild type. Treatment of YF condition medium with neutralizing anti-SDF-1 and anti-CXCR4 antibodies attenuated MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation. Cumulatively, these results show that abrogation of Cbl–PI3K interaction perturbs bone homeostasis, affecting both osteoclast function and osteoblast proliferation

Replication of Side-to-side differences in lower extremity biomechanics during multi-directional jump landing in volleyball athletes

This research study is a replication study that will contribute to a large-scale international replication project in sports and exercise science whose overall aim is: To produce high level systematic and transparent replication trials of experimental trials published within the last five years in top tier sports and exercise science journals using a randomized, unbiased selection method. Large scale replication projects have been undertaken by, among others, the Open Science Collaboration in the form of the Reproducibility Project in Psychology and the Many Labs Project (Klein et al., 2014; Open Science Collaboration, 2015). These projects ignited the debate on the replication crisis in social science due to their difficulty in replicating selected effects and the variability in results. One goal of replication is to bolster our collective confidence in the veracity of novel claims by providing diagnostic evidence about those claims (Nosek et al., 2015; Nosek and Errington, 2020) when the original and replication study are similar in all “theoretically relevant dimensions” such as study design, methods, and materials (Earp, 2020, p. 120). Given the interdisciplinary nature of the sports science field and the overlap with the psychological sciences, there is reason to believe the sports science field faces similar replication issues (Caldwell et al., 2020). The replicability of sports science research has yet to be examined despite the identification of concerns within the field (Halperin et al., 2018; Heneghan et al., 2012; Knudson, 2017). As a result, the overall goal of this project is to sample a range of topics in an unbiased manner across the field of sports science for an initial estimation of the replicability of those findings. This is the first natural step in the assessment of replicability of the field, therefore, the project will attempt to replicate numerous effects once rather than multiple replications of a specific effect or theory. As it is essential to run multiple independent experiments to determine if findings in sports science have a consistent and accurate pattern, and are strongly supported (Earp and Trafimow, 2015), the proposed study is one of many studies to be replicated. The objective of this specific proposed study is to replicate (i.e. repeat) the work of Komsak Sinsurin, Sarun Srisangboriboon, and Roongtiwa Vachalathiti published in the Europen Journal of Sports Sciences in 2017 titled “Side-to-side differences in lower extremity biomechanics during multi-directional jump landing in volleyball athletes”. References Caldwell, A.R., Vigotsky, A.D., Tenan, M.S., Radel, R., Mellor, D.T., Kreutzer, A., Lahart, I.M., Mills, J.P., Boisgontier, M.P., Boardley, I., Bouza, B., Cheval, B., Chow, Z.R., Contreras, B., Dieter, B., Halperin, I., Haun, C., Knudson, D., Lahti, J., Miller, M., Morin, J.B., Naughton, M., Neva, J., Nuckols, G., Peters, S., Roberts, B., Rosa-Caldwell, M., Schmidt, J., Schoenfeld, B.J., Severin, R., Skarabot, J., Steele, J., Twomey, R., Zenko, Z., Lohse, K.R., Nunan, D., 2020. Moving Sport and Exercise Science Forward: A Call for the Adoption of More Transparent Research Practices. Sport. Med. 50, 449–459. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01227-1 Earp, B.D., 2020. Falsification : How does it relate to reproducibility?, in: Research Methods in the Social Sciences: An A-Z of Key Concepts. Oxford University Press, pp. 119–123. Earp, B.D., Trafimow, D., 2015. Replication, falsification, and the crisis of confidence in social psychology. Front. Psychol. 6, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00621 Halperin, I., Vigotsky, A.D., Foster, C., Pyne, D.B., 2018. Strengthening the practice of exercise and sport-science research. Int. J. Sports Physiol. Perform. 13, 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2017-0322 Heneghan, C., Perera, R., Nunan, D., Mahtani, K., Gill, P., 2012. Forty years of sports performance research and little insight gained. BMJ 345. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e4797 Klein, R.A., Ratliff, K.A., Vianello, M., Adams, R.B., Bahník, Š., Bernstein, M.J., Bocian, K., Brandt, M.J., Brooks, B., Brumbaugh, C.C., Cemalcilar, Z., Chandler, J., Cheong, W., Davis, W.E., Devos, T., Eisner, M., Frankowska, N., Furrow, D., Galliani, E.M., Hasselman, F., Hicks, J.A., Hovermale, J.F., Hunt, S.J., Huntsinger, J.R., Ijzerman, H., John, M.-S.S., Joy-Gaba, J.A., Kappes, H.B., Krueger, L.E., Kurtz, J., Levitan, C.A., Mallett, R.K., Morris, W.L., Nelson, A.J., Nier, J.A., Packard, G., Pilati, R., Rutchick, A.M., Schmidt, K., Skorinko, J.L., Smith, R., Steiner, T.G., Storbeck, J., Van Swol, L.M., Thompson, D., Van ’T Veer, A.E., Vaughn, L.A., Vranka, M., Wichman, A.L., Woodzicka, J.A., Nosek, B.A., 2014. Investigating variation in replicability: A “many labs” replication project. Soc. Psychol. (Gott). 45, 142–152. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000178 Knudson, D., 2017. Confidence crisis of results in biomechanics research. Sport. Biomech. 16, 425–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2016.1246603 Nosek, B.A., Alter, G., Banks, G.C., Borsboom, D., Bowman, S.D., Breckler, S.J., Buck, S., Chambers, C.D., Chin, G., Christensen, G., Contestabile, M., Dafoe, A., Eich, E., Freese, J., Glennerster, R., Goroff, D., Green, D.P., Hesse, B., Humphreys, M., Ishiyama, J., Karlan, D., Kraut, A., Lupia, A., Mabry, P., Madon, T.A., Malhotra, N., Mayo-Wilson, E., McNutt, M., Miguel, E., Paluck, E.L., Simonsohn, U., Soderberg, C., Spellman, B.A., Turitto, J., VandenBos, G., Vazire, S., Wagenmakers, E.J., Wilson, R., Yarkoni, T., 2015. Promoting an open research culture. Science (80-. ). 348, 1422–1425. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab2374 Nosek, B.A., Errington, T.M., 2020. What is replication? PLoS Biol. 18, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000691 Open Science Collaboration, 2015. Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science 349, aac4716. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac471

Acute hypothalamic suppression significantly affects trabecular bone but not cortical bone following recovery and ovariectomy surgery in a rat model

Background. Osteoporosis is “a pediatric disease with geriatric consequences.” Bone morphology and tissue quality co-adapt during ontogeny for sufficient bone stiffness. Altered bone morphology from hypothalamic amenorrhea, a risk factor for low bone mass in women, may affect bone strength later in life. Our purpose was to determine if altered morphology following hypothalamic suppression during development affects cortical bone strength and trabecular bone volume (BV/TV) at maturity.Methods. Female rats (25 days old) were assigned to a control (C) group (n = 45) that received saline injections (.2 cc) or an experimental group (GnRH-a) (n = 45) that received gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist injections (.24 mg per dose) for 25 days. Fifteen animals from each group were sacrificed immediately after the injection protocol at Day 50 (C, GnRH-a). The remaining animals recovered for 135 days and a subset of each group was sacrificed at Day 185 ((C-R) (n = 15) and (G-R) (n = 15)). The remaining animals had an ovariectomy surgery (OVX) at 185 days of age and were sacrificed 40 days later (C-OVX) (n = 15) and (G-OVX) (n = 15). After sacrifice femurs were mechanically tested and scanned using micro CT. Serum C-terminal telopeptides (CTX) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) were measured. Two-way ANOVA (2 groups (GnRH-a and Control) X 3 time points (Injection Protocol, Recovery, post-OVX)) was computed.Results. GnRH-a injections suppressed uterine weights (72%) and increased CTX levels by 59%. Bone stiffness was greater in the GnRH-a groups compared to C. Ash content and cortical bone area were similar between groups at all time points. Polar moment of inertia, a measure of bone architecture, was 15% larger in the GnRH-a group and remained larger than C (19%) following recovery. Both the polar moment of inertia and cortical area increased linearly with the increases in body weight. Following the injection protocol, trabecular BV/TV was 31% lower in the GnRH-a group compared to C, a similar deficit in BV/TV was also measured following recovery and post-OVX. The trabecular number and thickness were lower in the GnRH-a group compared to control.Conclusion. These data suggest that following a transient delay in pubertal onset, trabecular bone volume was significantly lower and no restoration of bone volume occurred following recovery or post-OVX surgery. However, cortical bone strength was maintained through architectural adaptations in the cortical bone envelope. An increase in the polar moment of inertia offset increased bone resorption. The current data are the first to suppress trabecular bone during growth, and then add an OVX protocol at maturity. Trabecular bone and cortical bone differed in their response to hypothalamic suppression during development; trabecular bone was more sensitive to the negative effects of hypothalamic suppression

SHORT-TERM JUMP ACTIVITY ON BONE METABOLISM IN FEMALE COLLEGE-AGED NON-ATHLETES

There have been few studies examining the short-term effect of high-impact activities on bone metabolism measured by bone serum marker concentrations. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of short-term high-impact jump activity on bone turnover in female college-aged non-athletes. Twenty six healthy females were randomly assigned to a control or jump group. The subjects jumped 5 days per week for 2 weeks. The participants completed 10 jumps per session. A general health questionnaire and a bone-specific physical activity assessment instrument (BPAQ) were completed. BPAQ scores were calculated based on the past history of exercise. Blood draws were taken in both groups before and after the two-week experimental period. The vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) of all jumps and jump height were measured for each subject daily and the osteogenic index (OI) was measured. Concentrations of serum osteocalcin (OC), Bone Specific Alkaline Phosphatase (BAP), C-Terminal Telopeptides of Type I Collagen (CTX) and plasma Tartrate-Resistant Acid Phosphatase (TRAP5b) were assessed pre and post jump protocol to measure bone formation and resoprtion respectively. A significant interaction (time x group) was found in TRAP5b, and BAP values (p < 0.05). There was a significant decrease in CTX and BAP values in the jump group (p < 0.05) after the two week jump protocol. No significant interactions or changes were observed in OC values for either the jump or the control group. Two weeks of jump activity consisting of 10 jumps/day for 5 days/week with a weekly osteogenic index of 52.6 significantly decreased markers of bone resorption (TRAP5b and CTX) and bone formation (BAP) in young female non- athletes