From cell to the whole bone: a multiscale approach to understand the influence of Lactoferrin therapy on bone strength

The natural anabolic agent (Lactoferrin) has been shown to increase bone growth . However, its effects on bone architecture and net bone strength are less conclusive . A cell model which describes the rates of bone volume turnover in response to osteoblast and osteoclast generation was modified to account for the influence of Lacotoferrin. The bone microstructure was imaged using CT and a virtual computational model developed to capture the micro - architecture and density variation. The cell model was then coupled to the micro - level model to drive the amount of bone growth and resorption in response to strain stimuli. This in turn drives bone adaption and changing micro architecture. The evolved bone was th en loaded to deter mine net bone strength . The resulting bone was shown to have increased bone density and improved architecture to give improved overall bone strength . Th e proposed framework can potentially evaluate and test bone strengthening treatments and be used to inform clinical trials.