ArticlePhysiological reports2016
The effects of hibernation and forced disuse (neurectomy) on bone properties in arctic ground squirrels.
Article in Physiological reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Animal Models of Disuse-Induced Bone Loss.Calcified tissue international · 2021Pooled it
- Using Organoids to Unlock the Potential of Human Torpor for Spaceflight.Current stem cell reports · 2026Article
- Serotype-dependent differences in AAV cellular transduction rates in the hypothalamus of Arctic ground squirrels.Journal of neuroscience methods · 2026Article
- Serotype-dependent differences in AAV cellular transduction rates in the hypothalamus of Arctic ground squirrels.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Incorporation of microbially salvaged urea-nitrogen into anabolic amino acids during hibernation in arctic ground squirrels.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Hibernation-Inspired Innovations in Biomedicine: Addressing Aging, Chronic Diseases, and Critical Care.Canadian journal of zoology · 2026Article
- Incorporation of microbially salvaged urea-nitrogen into anabolic amino acids during hibernation in arctic ground squirrels.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Harnessing hibernation: Unlocking nature's secrets for advances in healthy aging, critical care, and space exploration.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- Skeletal muscle preservation in arctic ground squirrels during hibernation season.Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiology · 2025Article
- Differential bone remodeling mechanism in hindlimb unloaded and hibernating Daurian ground squirrels: a comparison between artificial and natural disuse within the same species.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2023Article
- Translating PUFA omega 6:3 ratios from wild to captive hibernators (Urocitellus parryii) enhances sex-dependent mass-gain without increasing physiological stress indicators.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2022Article
- Nitrogen recycling buffers against ammonia toxicity from skeletal muscle breakdown in hibernating arctic ground squirrels.Nature metabolism · 2020Article
- Calcium homeostasis during hibernation and in mechanical environments disrupting calcium homeostasis.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2020Review
- Krogh's principle for musculoskeletal physiology and pathology.Journal of musculoskeletal & neuronal interactions · 2018Article
- Comparative tissue transcriptomics highlights dynamic differences among tissues but conserved metabolic transcript prioritization in preparation for arousal from torpor.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2017Article
- The effects of hibernation and forced disuse (neurectomy) on bone properties in arctic ground squirrels.Physiological reports · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Bone loss is a well-known medical consequence of disuse such as in long-term space flight. Immobilization in many animals mimics the effects of space flight on bone mineral density. Decreases in metabolism are also thought to contribute to a loss of skeletal mass. Hibernating mammals provide a natural model of disuse and metabolic suppression. Hibernating ground squirrels have been shown to maintain bone strength despite long periods of disuse and decreased metabolism during torpor. This study examined if the lack of bone loss during torpor was a result of the decrease in metabolic rate during torpor or an evolutionary change in these animals affording protection against disuse. We delineated changes in bone density during natural disuse (torpor) and forced disuse (sciatic neurectomy) in the hind limbs of the arctic ground squirrel (AGS) over an entire year. We hypothesized that the animals would be resistant to bone loss due to immobilization and disuse during the winter hibernation season when metabolism is depressed but not the summer active season. This hypothesis was not supported. The animals maintained bone density (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and most bone structural and mechanical properties in both seasons. This was observed in both natural and forced disuse, regardless of the known metabolic rate increase during the summer. However, trabecular bone volume fraction (microcomputed tomography) in the distal femur was lower in neurectomized AGS at the study endpoint. These results demonstrate a need to better understand the relationship between skeletal load (use) and bone density that may lead to therapeutics or strategies to maintain bone density in disuse conditions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.