A multinational company specialised in nutrition and nutraceuticals
was developing innovative dietary products for the human health.

The client asked Animascope to assess the effects of different nutrients on bone micro-structural parameters in laboratory rats, by means of X-ray micro-CT imaging in vivo. Nine groups of 10-12 rats received a different diet during a period of three months. Animascope evaluated changes of standard
structural bone indices in the femoral bone, such as the bone volume
and surface, the mineral density, the trabecular plate number, thickness, separation and the degree of anisotropy.

The tests were performed at Time-0 and again at the end of the diet. Post-tests found statistically significant differences between some dietary groups, concerning the mineral density, the trabecular bone volume, and three other trabecular parameters. When normalised for the effects of aging, the results
show that some of the nutrients had an influence on the bone remodeling in young rats. In addition, the results suggest that the trabecular bone is more responsive to the effects of nutrients than the cortical bone. In rats, the bone architecture becomes mature in about four months. Nevertheless, in the present study, measurements were performed only at Time-0 and at three months. Therefore Animascope advised the customer to repeat the analyses at additional time points, earlier than three months, at four months and
later, after completion of the growth.