Interrelationships of body weight and bone weight with densitometric properties of tibiotarsal bone in geese during post-hatching development

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate interrelationships of body weight and bone weight and densitometric properties of the tibiotarsus in White Koluda Geese (W31) in the post-hatching period. The study was performed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) at two different parts of tibia: proximal metaphysis and mid-diaphysis. The investigation was performed on 100 bones obtained from males and females at the age of 1, 14, 28, 42 and 56 days of life. All the calculations were performed using the Statistica 9.0 software (StatSoft, Inc. Tulsa, USA). Pearson’s correlation coefficient of body weight and bone weight with all the investigated variables of bone was determined. Depending on the method used for densitometric measurements – DEXA or pQCT, the current study has revealed significant differences in the number of correlations of bone weight and body weight with the evaluated densitometric parameters. Sex-related differences in the investigated interrelationships were also found. In the case of proximal epiphysis, negative correlations of vBMD, tBMC, CTR_DEN and CRT_CNT with body weight and bone weight dominated in one-day-old males. Based on the current observations and the negative correlations of body weight and vBMD, CRT_DEN and TRAB_DEN obtained in the mid-diaphysis of tibiotarsus at the age of 14 days of life, it was concluded that this bone is much more prone to deformations and fractures in males than in females.