Variation in osteon histomorphometrics and their impact on age-at-death estimation in older individuals

Abstract

Histomorphometric studies have reported relations between osteon size and age; however, data focused on the shape of osteons is sparse. The purpose of this study was to determine how osteon circularity (On.Cr) varies with age in different skeletal elements. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between age and osteon shape and size. We hypothesized that age would be negatively related to osteon size (area, On.Ar) and positively related to osteon shape (On.Cr). On.Cr and On.Ar were determined for the ribs and femora of 27 cadaveric specimens with known age-at-death. As predicted, age was significantly related to osteon size and shape for both the femur and rib. With age, there was a decrease in size and an increase in circularity. No relationship between sex and On.Cr was detected. An age predicting model, including On.Cr, On.Ar and OPD, is proposed to improve our ability to estimate age-at-death, especially for older individuals.

Keywords: Age estimation; Circularity; Forensic anthropology; Histomorphometry; Osteons; Skeletal biology.