Choose your mother wisely: the familial resemblance of bone adaptation

This study demonstrates how complex bone microarchitectural features can be summarized to describe bone adaptations seen with aging in women, which are consistent with the stages of osteoporosis. Additionally, we showed familial resemblance in these bone microarchitectural traits between mothers and daughters that can be used to predict bone adaptations.

Patient-specific characterization of bone quality can reduce complex microarchitectural features to common combinations of bone characteristics, known as bone phenotypes. This study investigated whether there is a general trend in bone phenotype change over time seen with aging in females and whether there is a familial resemblance to phenotype membership between mothers and daughters.

Bone phenotype membership was calculated on biological mother and daughter pairs (Participants = 101), scanned using high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography, to the three pre-defined phenotypes (healthy, low volume, and low density). The trajectory of bone phenotype with age was explored using all participant’s data. Linear regression models were used to assess the familial resemblance of phenotyping in the mother-daughter pairs.

When stratified for age, the trajectory of the phenotype membership transitioned from healthy (20–40 years), to low volume (40–60 years), to low density (60–80 years), which similarly aligns with the stages of osteoporosis observed in females. Familial resemblance (½h²) was observed in the healthy phenotype (β = 0.432, p < 0.01). Predictive modelling showed a significant association in phenotype membership between mothers and daughters in the healthy (R² = 0.347, p = 0.04) and low volume (R² = 0.416, p < 0.01) phenotypes, adjusted for age, height, and weight.

Our results suggest that phenotype membership in females changes with age in a pattern that is consistent with the stages of osteoporosis. Additionally, we showed familial resemblance in bone phenotype, which can be used to predict bone adaptations between mothers and daughters that are associated with bone loss with aging.