Histomorphometrical effect of the reloading on the bone atrophy in medial
tibia: (A and B) area of the cancellous and
trabecular bones, (C) percentage of bone volume,
(D) thickness of subchondral bone, and (E)
representative histological findings. Scale bar = 2 mm. The cancellous
bone was not affected by unloading or reloading, and trabecular bone was
significantly decreased by unloading and showed an increasing trend with
reloading. As a result, the bone volume was significantly reduced by
unloading and recovered to the same level as that of the Con group after
2 weeks of reloading. Similarly, the thickness of the subchondral bone
was also significantly reduced by unloading, but it took 4 weeks to
recover to the level of the Con group. HS = hindlimb suspension; RL =
reloading.