Ultrastructural evidence suggests that osteoclasts engulf and destroy osteocytes during bone degradation

In the present study the authors have examined sites of bone destruction in calvaria of young rats aged 4-9 days in the hope of obtaining information on the fate of osteocytes at these sites. When sequentially arranged, images obtained from various regions of the remodelling bone, and from rats of different ages strongly suggest that osteoclasts engulf and destroy osteocytes exposed during bone degradation.