ABSTRACT
The skeleton has a key role in locomotion, protecting vital organs, and regulating calcium and phosphorus metabolism. A wide range of disorders may perturb bone metabolism and/or affect mineral ion concentrations, particularly nutritional, renal, endocrine, or neoplastic etiologies. Markers of bone status are valuable not only for clinical appraisal in human and veterinary medicine, but also as endpoints in the experimental animal models of human bone disorders, such as osteoporosis, metastatic bone disease, and fracture healing, and in identifying the toxic effects of novel xenobiotics on bone during preclinical evaluations. As investigators discover new insights into the pathophysiology of bone disorders, potential novel biomarkers have been identified that may provide greater sensitivity and/or specificity relative to current markers. The chapter outlines key characteristics of commonly used biomarkers of bone formation and resorption. Variability in bone biomarkers owing to factors such as age and cyclical rhythms have been investigated in some common laboratory animals.
