Histomorphometric study on the osteocyte lacuno-canalicular network in animals of different species. I. Woven-fibered and parallel-fibered bones.

A comparative histomorphometric study was carried out on the extension of lacunocanalicular network in two types of bone tissue (woven and parallel-fibered) in shaft bones of various animals (Frog, Chicken, Rabbit, Bovine, Horse, Dog, Man), with the aim to understand whether the distribution of osteocyte network is related to the organization of the collagen fibers or to the animal species. By means of a light microscope (LM) connected with an image-Analyser the following parameters were measured: 1) the cross-sectional area and the volume of osteocyte lacunae; 2) the osteocyte density; 3) the number of canaliculi departing both from the whole outline of the sectional area of osteocyte lacunae and, in the parallel-fibered osteons only (both with LM and SEM), from their two opposite walls, i.e., from the wall facing the Haversian canal (vascular wall) and from that facing the cement line (peripheral wall). In all the animals studied the size and density of osteocyte lacunae as well as the extension of the canalicular network proved to be markedly higher in woven than in parallel-fibered bone, whereas no relation with the species was found. These findings suggest that the function of osteocyte is mainly involved in the regulation of skeletal homeostasis, as discussed in the present paper.