CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MECHANOSTAT THEORY PART I. REORGANIZATION MECHANISMS OF SKELETAL ARCHITECTURE

The paper contains a critical analysis of the mechanostat theory. It is shown that for continuous modeling and osteoklastic-and-osteoblastic remodeling is not providing the necessary safety margin of skeletal structures and reduce risk of fractures. It is established that at each level of the hierarchical organization of a skeleton there are also other mechanisms of its reorganization. The functioning of this system is controlled by mechanisms of osteocytes and purposefully provides two effects: the first -preservation of bone structures deformability according to demanded productivity of convective fluid movement mechanism of a lacunary-tubular system, second - the optimization of the cross-section of the cavities of a lacunary-tubular system, respectively, the required level of throughput for the flow of fluid. As a result, the parameters of mechanical-metabolic environment surrounding the osteocytes are stored in the homeostatic limits, which increases cell viability, and hence bone and skeleton as a whole. However, this is often at the expense of the strength properties of bone structures.