Collagen cross-linking is a determinant of bone quality. A three-year treatment of bisphosphonate-incadronate disodium-in beagles increased degree of mineralization, collagen maturity, and pentosidine, a compound with advanced glycation end products. The treatment had no effect on the total amount of enzymatic cross-link formation.
Introduction: Collagen cross-linking is a determinant of bone quality. Recently, we reported that long-term treatment with bisphosphonate increased microdamage accumulation. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of a three-year treatment with bisphosphonate on degree of mineralization and immature and mature enzymatic cross-links and non-enzymatic collagen cross-link, pentosidine, in cortical bone in the same dogs.
Methods: Twenty-nine 1-year-old beagles (15 males, 14 females) were divided into three groups that daily were given vehicle or incadronate at doses of 0.3 or 0.6 mg/kg/day orally for three years. A cortex of a rib was fractionated into low- and high-density portions. The contents of calcium, phosphorus, enzymatic immature and mature cross-links, and the non-enzymatic glycation product pentosidine were determined in each fraction.
Results: Calcium, phosphorus, and pentosidine contents and the ratio of mature to immature cross-links increased significantly with incadronate in a dose-dependent manner, but the total amount of enzymatic cross-links was unchanged. The pentosidine content correlated inversely with cortical activation frequency (p < 0.01).
Conclusion: Long-term suppression of bone remodeling by bisphosphonate increases degree of mineralization, collagen maturity, and non-enzymatic cross-linking.