The Effects of Physical Exercise on Osteocyte Lacunar Morphology and Orientation around Bioresorbable Implants

Abstract

In this study, we used synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (SR-CT) to investigate the effect of early post-operative physical exercise at 2, 4, and 6 weeks on osteocyte lacunar distribution and morphology in a Sprague Dawley rat femoral defect model after implantation of a bioresorbable pin. Physical exercise has been shown to improve bone remodeling after fracture, but its effects on the lacuno-canalicular network in the presence of bioresorbable implants remain unclear. The structure of lacunae is linked to that of osteocytes, which play an important role in bone remodeling and adaptation to stress. We studied a large number of lacunae (around 670 000 per sample) in terms of their location, morphology, and orientation. We show that in newly formed bone, lacunae are larger and rounder with exercise, while in previously existing bone, lacunae are less oriented along the long bone axis when exercise is performed. In addition, close to the implant, lacunar density is higher with exercise in both newly formed bone and previously existing bone. These findings point to a higher degree of remodeling and a pronounced lacunar response to mechanical stimulation and may thus help clarify bone behavior with exercise around implants to better design post-surgical recovery treatments.

Bone Response to Mechanical Loading is Highly Heritable and Correlates with Osteocyte Lacunar Morphology in Genetically Diverse Mouse Strains
N. Migotsky, S. Lamia, J. T. Shuster +3
bioRxiv30 Oct 2026PreprintAll rights reservedFull textSystems & synthetic biologybioRxiv
Differential Adaptation of Osteocyte Lacunar Morphology at Bone (Re)modeling Sites under Mechanical Loading and Pharmacological Therapies in a Mouse Model of Osteoporosis
S. Lindenmann, Z. Li, C. Weigt +5
bioRxiv5 Oct 2026PreprintAll rights reservedFull textSystems & synthetic biologybioRxiv
Exercise, Physical Activity and Breast Cancer: The Role of Tumor-Associated Macrophages
Jorming Goh, Elizabeth A. Kirk, Shu Xian Lee +1
PubMed15 Jul 2026Peer-reviewedLicence not stated62 citedImmunologyOpenAlex
Effects of exercise and physical activity on circulating inflammaging- and immunosenescence-related biomarkers in older adults and adults with chronic diseases: an umbrella review
Guangwei Chai, Jinhong Xue, Bin Xie
Frontiers in immunology16 Oct 2026Peer-reviewedCC BYFull textImmunologyEurope PMC
Corticothalamic circuits drive voluntary physical exercise-mediated relief of surgery-induced negative emotions in mice
Ziqing He, Xiangjie Song, Ying Shi +16
Communications Biology2 Oct 2026Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textNeuroscienceCrossref

Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{rodriguezfernandez2026effects,
  title = {{The Effects of Physical Exercise on Osteocyte Lacunar Morphology and Orientation around Bioresorbable Implants}},
  author = {I. Rodriguez-Fernandez and T. Bretschneider and G. Lovric and M. Stampanoni and O. Suljevic and N. G. Sommer and A.-M. Weinberg and U. Y. Schwarze and L. Pircher and C. Hellmich and T. A. Grünewald and H. Lichtenegger and A. Menzel},
  howpublished = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.10.29.762865},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762865v1},
  note = {CC BY},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - The Effects of Physical Exercise on Osteocyte Lacunar Morphology and Orientation around Bioresorbable Implants
AU  - I. Rodriguez-Fernandez
AU  - T. Bretschneider
AU  - G. Lovric
AU  - M. Stampanoni
AU  - O. Suljevic
AU  - N. G. Sommer
AU  - A.-M. Weinberg
AU  - U. Y. Schwarze
AU  - L. Pircher
AU  - C. Hellmich
AU  - T. A. Grünewald
AU  - H. Lichtenegger
AU  - A. Menzel
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/29
PB  - bioRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.10.29.762865
UR  - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762865v1
AB  - In this study, we used synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (SR-CT) to investigate the effect of early post-operative physical exercise at 2, 4, and 6 weeks on osteocyte lacunar distribution and morphology in a Sprague Dawley rat femoral defect model after implantation of a bioresorbable pin. Physical exercise has been shown to improve bone remodeling after fracture, but its effects on the lacuno-canalicular network in the presence of bioresorbable implants remain unclear. The structure of lacunae is linked to that of osteocytes, which play an important role in bone remodeling and adaptation to stress. We studied a large number of lacunae (around 670 000 per sample) in terms of their location, morphology, and orientation. We show that in newly formed bone, lacunae are larger and rounder with exercise, while in previously existing bone, lacunae are less oriented along the long bone axis when exercise is performed. In addition, close to the implant, lacunar density is higher with exercise in both newly formed bone and previously existing bone. These findings point to a higher degree of remodeling and a pronounced lacunar response to mechanical stimulation and may thus help clarify bone behavior with exercise around implants to better design post-surgical recovery treatments.
ER  -

Abstract

Related

Cite