Bull Vet Inst Pulawy 54, 601-604, 2010
INFLUENCE OF SEX ON BONE MINERAL DENSITY
AND CONTENT OF THE SKELETON
OF THE THORACIC AND PELVIC LIMB
IN THE OSTRICH - STRUTHIO CAMELUS VAR. DOMESTICUS
MAŁGORZATA DZIERZĘCKA AND ANNA CHARUTA¹
Department of Morphological Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, 02–787 Warszawa, Poland
¹Department of Vertebrate Morphology, Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Podlasie, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland
[email protected]
Received for publication June 22, 2010
Abstract
The influence of sex on bone mineral density (BMD) and the bone mineral content (BMC) have been analysed in selected
bones of the thoracic and pelvic limbs of African ostriches. The examination was conducted with the use of a densitometer, using the
technology of affinited beam of X-ray and the programme for animal research. It was shown that the analysed bones of ostrich
skeleton differed significantly regarding the BMD and BMC. Significantly higher values of both parameters were recorded in case of
the bones of the pelvic limb in comparison with the bones of the thoracic limb. A central part of the shaft of the tibio-tarsal bone and
its proximal end (the pelvic limb) were characterised by the highest values for both BMD and BMC, whereas for the ulnar and radial
bones (the thoracic limb) the lowest values were obtained. The study also demonstrated that males showed a significantly higher
BMD and BMC values than females referring to the pelvic bones, i.e. the tibio-tarsal bone. For further study aiming at monitoring
changes in BMD and BMC during the growth and development of ostriches from hatching till the 14th month of life, the use of
densitometer intravitally is recommended.
Key words: ostrich, sex, bone, limb, mineral content, mineral density.
Ostriches (Struthio camelus) developed long
and strong limbs, which are their biggest environmental
advantage, as the limbs are their perfect support for the
whole body (14). For effective functioning, the limbs
must be characterised by a proper anatomical structure.
Unfortunately, as a result of the intensive farm breeding,
more often health problems are observed in many birds
(8, 9) connected with limb deformities and other
malfunctions (15). In some cases, there were also
fractures observed, especially of the tibio-tarsal bone (1,
2) or the tarso-metatarsal bone, mainly in young
growing ostriches (6, 11, 15, 25, 26). The fractures,
similarly to the intravital deformities, such as distorsion
of the tibial bone and splayed legs (6, 10), may be the
symptom of disorders in the bone mineral metabolism
connected with the insufficient content of minerals in
the bone tissue (BMC) or improper mineral density
(BMD). It should be noted that current literature about
ostriches mainly focuses on breeding and feeding
technology (4, 5, 7, 17), reproduction (13, 16, 18-20, 24,
28), or genetics (16, 21), and there is a shortage of
information about the anatomy, including bone mineral
content and density. It seems that conducting such
research would be a valuable way to complete our
knowledge within the scope (3). The aim of the study
was therefore to determine the influence of sex on the
BMD and BMC in selected bones of the thoracic and
pelvic limbs of ostriches.
Material and Methods
The research material consisted of the selected
limb bones of ostriches (Struthio camelus var.
domesticus) (8 males and 7 females) taken from 14month-old birds. The birds were fed mixed concentrates
for growing and bred ostriches STRUŚ PREMIUM
(Nutrena, Poland) with the addition of 0.3% of
OPTAVIT SHELL (Trouw Nutrition, Poland) and
calcium gluconate. The ostriches were examined before
slaughtering to eliminate the existence of diseases,
especially those of the locomotion system. The
examined birds showed no clinical symptoms and
abnormalities concerning the locomotion system. Before
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slaughtering ostriches were weighed using electronic
live stock scale TP 1500/4, max load up to 15,000 kg,
exact to 0,5 kg. Slaughter was conducted in compliance
with EU standards and approval by the Bioethical
Commission of the University. Then, the bones were
separated from the soft tissues and the mineral content
of the bones was analysed and given in g/cm2 for BMD
and in g for BMC. The following bones belonging to the
skeleton of the thoracic limb were examined: the
humeral bone, radial bone, and ulnar bone, and the
following bones of the pelvic limb: the femoral bone,
tibio-tarsal bone, and tarso-metatarsal bone. In all cases,
the whole bones were analysed. As far as the tibio-tarsal
bone is concerned, due to its frequent exposure to
injuries in the species, the analysis concerned the central
part of the shaft and its proximal end separately.
The BMD and BMC analysis was conducted
with the use of a densitometer Norland, Excell Plus
(Fort Atkinson, USA), using the technology of affinited
beam of X-ray and the programme for animal research
(Small Subject Scan 3.9.6. version) at scanning
resolution of 3.0 x 3.0 mm and scanning speed of 60
mm/s. The densitometer was calibrated before each
measuring series with the use of a phantom provided by
the producer.
Statistical analysis was based on the two-factor
analysis of variance. The t-Tukey's test (at P≤0.05) was
used to compare the averages for bones and sexes.
Moreover, numerical material was characterised with the
use of arithmetical average ( ) and standard deviation
(±S.D.). The calculations were conducted with the use of
STATISTICA 6.0 programme.
Results and Discussion
The mean values of the BMD and BMC of the
examined limb bones depending on sex of the ostriches
are shown in Table 1. On the basis of Table 1, it can be
considered that the analysed bones of the ostrich
skeleton differ significantly as far as the BMD and BMC
are concerned. Significantly much higher values
(P<0.01) of both analysed parameters were recorded in
bones of the pelvic limb in comparison with the bones of
the thoracic limb. Significantly higher value of the BMD
had the tibio-tarsal bones of males in comparison with
females in both the proximal end and shaft. In the
analysis of the mineral content in the tibial bone,
significantly higher values were observed in the end
proximal to the shaft in males than in females (Table 1).
Table 1
Average values ( ) of BMD and BMC, with standard deviation (±S.D.), of particular bones of the thoracic and pelvic
bones of 14-month-old ostriches
Males
Quality
Bone type
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Femur
BMD
(g/cm2)
BMC
(g)
ab…e AB..E
Females
Average for the
species (♂♀)
0.665B±0.115
0.244A±0.026
0.275A±0.03
1.329aC±0.15
1.847D*±0.203
0.718B±0.048
0.22A±30.021
0.267A±0.017
1.201aC±0.135
1.487D*±0.001
0.688B±0.09
0.232A±0.024
0.270A±0.022
1.252aC±0.148
1.727D±0244
1.994D*±0.065
1.811D*±0.079
1.933D±0.113
1.603bD±0.212
55.233A±10.724
4.658B±1.032
6.059B±0.619
265.250C±26.786
472.500D*±58.161
1.578bD±0.176
58.64A±4.057
4.06B±0.572
5.79B±1.143
247.97C±30.69
435.60 D*±7.495
1.588bD±0.18
56.69A±8.14
4.30B±0.8
5.90B±0.93
254.88C±29.02
460.20D±49.03
495.225D±42.641
510.300D±42.144
500.25D±38.82
281.825C±73.473
279.400C±61.172
280.37C±62.29
Tibiotarsus end
proximal to the shaft
Tibiotarsus middle of
the shaft
Tarsometarsus
Humerus
Radius
Ulna
Femur
Tibiotarsus end
proximal to the shaft
Tibiotarsus middle of
the shaft
Tarsometarsus
Within columns means bearing the different superscripts are significantly different: small letters at P≤0.05,
capital letters at P≤0.01.
*
Means within rows are significantly different at P≤0.05.
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In the central part of the shaft of the tibial bone,
the mineral content was slightly higher in females;
however, no significant statistical differences were
observed. The zeugopodium, which is the radial bone
and ulnar bone, had the lowest values for both BMD and
BMC. They also did not differ significantly referring to
this parameter (Table 1). Comparing the achieved results
for BMD in ostriches with the values obtained in other
bird species, it appeared that e.g. in laying hens’ tibiotarsal bones are characterised also by the highest values
for BMD in comparison with other bones of the limbs. A
comparison of average values of BMD for the humeral
bones in ostriches and hens showed that the values for
ostriches were over two times higher (30). Similar
dependences were confirmed in analysis of mineral
density of the bone tissue of the pelvic bones in broiler
chickens conducted by Korver et al. (23), where average
values of BMD in seven parts of the tibial bones of 30week-old birds were analysed.
Within the bones of the pelvic limb, higher
values of BMD and BMC were recorded for the tibiotarsal bone than for the femoral bone. Similar results
were observed in research carried out on hens (12, 22,
29, 30).
It should be also noted that the presented
studies show that in ostriches, the values of BMD and
BMC of the femoral bone are higher than those of the
humeral bone. This was also observed in the research
conducted on laying hens (27).
In summary, there were significant differences
concerning BMD and BMC values (higher in males) in
the pelvic skeleton of ostriches. Moreover, significantly
higher values of both analysed parameters were
observed in the pelvic limb bones in comparison with
the thoracic bones. The highest values were observed in
the central part of the shaft of the tibio-tarsal bone and
its proximal end, whereas the lowest values were
recorded in the radial and the ulnar bones (the thoracic
bones).
In the further research on changes in BMD and
BMC during growth and development of ostriches, from
the 1st d till 14th month of age, which is the time of
achieving somatic maturity, the use of densitometer
intravitally is recommended. Thus, the method may be a
non-invasive tool in diagnostics of early disorders in
bone development of birds (important for animals’ wellbeing) and may contribute to the improvement of ostrich
health status.
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20.
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