METABOLIS AND ENDOCRINE DISORDERS Bone have obvious mechanical function; they support and protect the soft

tissues, transmit load and muscular force from one part of the body to another and , mediate movement and locomotion. Bone as a tissue has an equally important role as a mineral reservoir which help to regulate the composition and in particular the calcium ion concentration of the extracellular fluid. For all its solidity, bone is structure changing from moment to moment in concert with the normal variations in mechanical function and mineral exchange. All modulation in bone structure and composition are brought about by celluler activity, which is regulated by hormones and local factors; these agents, in turn, are controlled by alterations in mineral ion concentration. The metabolic bone disorder are conditions in which generalized skeletal abnormalities result from disruption of this complex interactive system,

Bone and Bones Bone composition Bone consists of a largely collagenous matrix which is impregnated which mineral salts and populated by cell.

The matrix The matrix is composed of type 1 collagen lying in a mucopolysaccharide ground substance. There are also small amounts of non collagenous protein, mainly in the form of proteoglycans and the bone specific proteins osteonectin, which appears to be involved in bone mineralozation and osteocalcin or Gla protein whose function is unknow. Gla protein is produced only by osteoblast and its concentration in the bood is, to some extent, a measure of osteoblastic activity. The unmineralized matrix is known as osteoid; normally it is seen only as a thin layer on surfaces where active new bone formation is taking place, but the proportion of osteoid to mineralized bone increases significantly in rickets and osteomalacia.

Bone celis There are of three types of bone cell: osteoblasts, osteo-cytes and osteoclasts. Osteoblasts are concerned with bone formation; they are derived from local mesenchymal precursors and form rows of small (20u.m) cuboida! cells along the free surfaces of trabeculae and haversian systems where new bone is laid down. They are rich in alkaline phosphatase and are responsible for the production of type I collagen as well as the non-collagenous bone proteins and for the mineralization of bone matrix (Feck and Woods, 1388). They may also be involved in the initiation and control of osteoclastic activity. At the end of a bone remodelling cycle the osteoblast either remains on the newly formed surface as a quiescent lining cell or becomes enveloped in the matrix as a resting osteocyte. Osteocytes can therefore be regarded as spent osteoblasts.' Lying in their bony lacunae, they communicate with each other and with the surface lining cells by slender cytoplasmic processes. Their function is obscure: they may, under the influence of parathyroid hormone, participate in bone resorption ('osteocytic ostcolysis') and calcium ion transport (I'eck and Woods, 1')Ht)|, It has also 1KTII suggested that they an sensitive to mechanical itlrnull and communicate infoimatlun and