DIAGNOSTIC TESTING:
Brittle Bones

As we age, our bones become brittle and can more easily fracture. At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Deepak Vashishth is working to pinpoint the cause of brittle bones, which could lead to preventive diagnostic testing for osteoporosis.

Vashishth, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is studying the effects of aging on the properties of bone fractures. He believes he has pinpointed the factors that increase the stiffness of bone’s collagen matrix, which increases fracture risk.

“The reaction of sugar with the collagen in bone as we age causes more ribose- and glucose-induced cross links. This gives the bone a caramelized candy look and increases the chance of fracture,” Vashishth explains.

Vashishth and his graduate students conduct aging experiments in vitro to simulate this process by incubating human bones in a ribose solution at body temperature (37 C). The bones are de-mineralized, leaving only collagen, which is mechanically tested to estimate stiffness.

Vashishth has found a 92-percent correlation between the cross links and collagen stiffness. The bones used in this research are obtained from the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI). Vashishth is collaborating with researchers at the Bone and Joint Center at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

CONTACT: Theresa Bourgeois, (518) 276-2840, bourgt@rpi.edu

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