Table Clamp: Just for Tables or does it have Height Increase Implications as well?

Tarin | Jul 12, 2010 |

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Recently, two scientists by the name of H. Yokota and P. Zhang have developed a revolutionary new technique that has a lot of implications on bone. First, they developed the concept of knee loading and found that knee loading causes the formation of new cortical bone. They used a table clamp like object to put pressure on the rats knee and then used a pizeoelectric current on the lower side. Any form of mechanical load generates a pizeoelectric current but they needed to manually do it as the rats in this study were unconscious.

H. Yokota and P. Zhang found that this Lateral Synovial Joint Loading had a wide variety of implications. Then they decided to test their theory on height in a study called "Lengthening of Mouse Hindlimbs with Joint Loading". They found that loading the knee increased the length of the femur and tibia by approximately 3%. The increase in height did not come from the cortical bone but rather from the growth plate. As a result of knee loading, there was an increase in rat growth plate height and length. There was an increase in chondrocyte proliferation and chondrocyte hypertrophy.

Now, there are two possible reasons for this height increase: One, stretching and formation of new cortical bone; two, increase of stem cells in the hyaline cartilage growth plate line.

There is a common misconception in the science of growing taller that growth plates fuse. Growth plates do not fuse. You see bones start out as a mass of hyaline cartilage. First, in the primary ossification center, stem cells within the hyaline cartilage begin to differentiate into chondrocytes which then hypertrophy which proceed to undergo apoptosis and are invaded by bone cells. The primary ossification center begats the shaft of the long bone. This shaft pushes away the remainder of the hyaline cartilage which become the secondary ossification centers and the articular cartilage. Longitudinal growth occurs by recruitment of stem cells from the bone marrow of the epiphysis of the long bones.

The hyaline cartilage growth plate line does not fuse. It is visible on an x-ray as a white line about the same texture of whiteness as the articulating cartilage on the end of the bone. What goes away is the proliferating zone of chondrocytes which looks like a big gap on an x-ray because in the proliferating zone the chondrocytes have not yet secreted extracellular matrix. That's why it looks like the growth plates have fused. The hyaline cartilage growth plate line does not go away because it is the stem cells which differentiate into chondrocytes which eventually undergo apoptosis and are invaded by bone cells which "fuse".

The hyaline cartilage remains there. Endochondral ossification can occur from any hyaline cartilage but there is normally genetic code blocking it like in the articular cartilage or in the spaces in the skull(there are some diseases where endochondral ossification occurs). Note: that the reason there's no hyaline cartilage growth plate line in limb lengthening surgery is due to the fact that it's periosteal progenitor cells which are responsible for repairing the broken bones and not stem cells. Periosteal progenitor cells don't need the genetic instruction from hyaline cartilage to undergo endochondral ossification.

Now in H. Yokota's and P. Zhang's study hypertrophy of the growth plate was seen. Now it is speculated that chondrocytes have a finite proliferative capacity. However, stem cells can proliferate indifinitely. In some studies in the past, methods have only increased growth rate rather than final growth because of this finite chondrocyte proliferative capacity.

However, Lateral Synovial Joint Loading takes advantage of the infinite proliferative capacity of stem cells to grow taller at any age(as long as the hyaline cartilage growth plate line remains). Normally, stem cells are recruited into the resting zone(the hyaline cartilage growth plate line) from the bone marrow of the epiphysis. Lateral Synovial Joint Loading compresses the ends of the bones causing microfractures within the trabecular bone of the epiphysis releasing stem cells from the bone marrow. It also increases interstitial fluid flow sending the stem cells into the hyaline cartilage growth plate line. In addition, it loads the joint capsule which in turn loads the articular cartilage which provides the signaling for stem cells to differentiate into chondrocytes thus beginning the process of endochondral ossification.

Lateral Synovial Joint Loading is performed easily by using a table clamp which is purchasable for less than $10.