Building Better Bones Tiffany, shown in FIGURE 35.10, was born with multiple fractures in her arms and legs. By age six, she had undergone surgery to correct more than 200 bone fractures. Her fragile, easily broken bones are .symptoms or osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in a gene for collagen. As bones develop, collagen forms a scaffold for deposition of mineralized bone tissue. The scaffold forms improperly in children with OI. FIGURE 35.10 also shows the results of a test of a new drug. Treated children, all less than two years old were compared to similarly affected children of the same age who were not treated with the drug.

FIGURE 3.5.10 A clinical trial of a drug treatment for osteogenesis imperfect (OI). OI affects the child shown at night. Nine children with received the drug. Six others were untreated Controls. Surface area of certain vertebrae were measured before and after treatment. Fractures occurring during the 12 months of the trial were also recorded.

How many of the untreated children showed an increase in vertebral area?

To determine: The number of untreated children who showed an increase in the vertebral area after 12-month period.

Concept introduction:

Bones are the specialized connective tissues that surround the living cells.  An adult consists of 206 bones in their body. The main functions of bone are storage of minerals, to aid in the movement, to protect the organs, and for producing the blood cells through red marrow. Osteogenesis imperfecta is also known as brittle bone disease. It is a group of genetic disorders that can adversely affect the bones of our body. The main symptom of this disorder is easy breakage of bones. It is mainly caused due to the mutation in the collagen genes.

Person T had multiple fractures in her legs and arms. At the age of six, she underwent a surgery in order to correct more than 200 bone fractures. Her brittle, easily breakable bones is a symptom of a genetic disorder called Osteogenesis imperfecta. It is caused due to the mutation in the collagen genes. During the development of bones, collagen forms a scaffold for the deposition of mineralized bone tissue. The development of scaffold is inappropriately formed in children with Osteogenesis imperfecta.

Refer Fig. 35.10, “A clinical trial of a drug treatment for Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI)”in the textbook. The researchers had conducted clinical trials by testing a new drug for the treatment of Osteogenesis imperfecta. The clinical trial was carried out for a period of 12 months...