Fig. 3.

Length of femurs (A), left tibia (B) and humeri (C) of the rats in the Si-deprived (n = 20) and Si-supplemented (n = 10) groups and correlations between fasting serum Si concentrations at necropsy and lengths of, femurs (D), left tibia (E), and humeri (F), of rats in the Si-deprived (squares) and Si-supplemented (circles) groups. The limb bones of the rats in the Si-deprived group were significantly longer compared to the rats in the Si-supplemented group (P = 0.0002 at the femur; P = 0.002 at the left tibia; and P = 0.0006 at the humerus; unpaired two-tailed Student's t-test) and inversely correlated with fasting serum Si concentrations (r = − 0.53, P = 0.006 for femurs; r = − 0.47, P = 0.016 for the left tibia; and r = − 0.52, P = 0.007 for humeri). Two outliers (one in each group), with markedly higher Si concentrations (> 300 µg/L) compared to the group mean/median, are likely to represent inadvertent contamination upon sample collection (despite the great care taken) and are shown, but were not included in the correlations. Lengths of the limb bones are also shown for the standard rodent stock feed-fed group as a reference for normal rats.