The number of fibroblastic colonies formed from bone marrow is decreased and the in vitro proliferation rate of trabecular bone cells increased in aged rats.

Four- and 21-month old female Sprague-Dawley rats were sacrificed and their tibiae and femurs isolated for histology and initiation of bone marrow and trabecular bone cultures. The bone loss observed in 21-month old rats was associated with a markedly decreased osteoblastic index. The percentages of mineralizing trabecular surfaces were only slightly decreased in aged rats, whereas the percentages of mineralizing endocortical surfaces were strikingly decreased. Diaphyseal femoral marrows from 21-month old rats were less cellular than those from four-month old rats, and developed in culture fewer fibroblast colony forming units (FCFU) and fewer adherent cells with phenotypic characteristics of osteoblast-like cells. Trabecular bone cultures from 21-month old rats produced as many cells as cultures from four-month old rats, whereas the amount of trabeculae put into culture was much less in aged rats. Moreover, the proliferation rate in secondary culture was significantly increased in 21-month old rats. Similar responses to calcitriol were observed in bone marrow and trabecular bone cells from aged and younger mature rats, while cAMP responses to PTH were decreased in cells from aged rats. Our data confirm the age-related decrease in the FCFU efficiency of the bone marrow and show a stimulated proliferation of trabecular bone cultures from 21-month old rats that could be seen either as the result of the inhibition in vivo of the response to a signal to proliferate, or as a rebound response to factors present in the serum-enriched medium and lacking in vivo.