Raman spectroscopic of osteoporosis model in mouse tibia in vivo

In this work, we correlate Raman spectroscopy in vivo which is performed in healthy bone tibia, 3-month-old mice with osteoporotic bone, within two groups: OVX (ovariectomized) and sham (lumbar access, no ovariectomy group control). Laser beam was applied directly in a punch of skin in the distal medial part of tibia. To access bone quality, we calculate mineral/matrix ratio, relative lipid and proteoglycan content as well as the crystallinity using normalized spectrum within the integrated area method. The variables obtained for bone quality were statistically verify by ANOVA and tested for normality, where differences were considered to be significant for P < 0.05. In osteoporotic bone (OVX) we found a decreasing ratio between mineral to matrix and relative proteoglycan content, followed by a relative increasing lipid content when comparing with healthy bone (Sham) with statistical significance. The crystallinity showed higher value for OVX group but without statistical significance. Our Confocal Raman Spectroscopy provides a well-controlled environment to differentiate osteoporotic bone from healthy bone by decreasing calcium and glycosaminoglycans and increasing the amount of lipids in the cortical tibia of the mouse in vivo.