{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,26]],"date-time":"2026-07-26T05:46:27Z","timestamp":1785044787505,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]],"date-time":"2025-01-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735862400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["81860382"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["81860382"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Program for Young Talents of Science and Technology in Universities of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region","award":["NJYT22009"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NJYT22009"]}]},{"name":"Key Research Projects of Inner Mongolia Medical University","award":["YKD2021ZD011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["YKD2021ZD011"]}]},{"name":"Doctoral Scientific Found Project of Inner Mongolia Medical University","award":["YKD2023BSQD014"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["YKD2023BSQD014"]}]},{"name":"Teaching Innovation Team of Inner Mongolia Medical University","award":["NYCXTD202406"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NYCXTD202406"]}]},{"name":"2024 \u201cShan Xue\u201d Talent Programme of Inner Mongolia Medical University","award":["ZY20242104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZY20242104"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The cervical uncinate process is a unique structure of the cervical spine that undergoes significant changes in its morphological characteristics with age, and these changes may be related to osteoporosis. This study aimed to observe the distribution of cancellous bone in the cervical uncinate process and its morphological features using micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT) to gain a deeper understanding of the morphological characteristics of the uncinate microstructure. We performed Micro-CT scans on 31 sets of C3-C7 vertebrae, a total of 155 intact bone samples, and subsequently used the measurement software with the Micro-CT system to obtain parameters related to the cancellous bone of the uncinate process. We found that the cancellous bone of the uncinate process was predominantly longitudinally cross-aligned and continuous with the cancellous bone within the vertebral body. Comparisons between the left and right sides of each parameter showed significant differences only in the bone surface area, and the peaks of each parameter were primarily concentrated in C4-C6. In this study, we found that the C5 uncinate process is the site of most significant stress in the cervical vertebrae, which leads to the earliest occurrence of osteoporosis, and this study provides experimental, theoretical bases for the prevention of cervical spondylosis and osteoporosis, and the diagnosis and treatment of related diseases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0315640","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]],"date-time":"2025-01-03T18:51:13Z","timestamp":1735930273000},"page":"e0315640","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Study of distribution and morphological characteristics of the trabecular bone in the uncinate process of the cervical spine using micro-computed tomography"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Yunteng","family":"Hao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuan","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shaojie","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chaoqun","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaohe","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shang","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kun","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jie","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haiyan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7429-5129","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Yang","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mingjie","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jian","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhijun","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jun","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0059-4921","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xing","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0315640.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"402","DOI":"10.3171\/2011.12.SPINE11541","article-title":"Analysis of the uncinateprocesses of the cervical spine: an anatomical study","volume":"16","author":"RS TUBBS","year":"2012","journal-title":"J Neurosurg Spine"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0315640.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.1002\/ca.22317","article-title":"Anatomy and clinical significance of the uncinate processand uncovertebral joint: A comprehensive review","volume":"27","author":"J. HARTMAN","year":"2014","journal-title":"Clin Anat"},{"key":"pone.0315640.ref003","article-title":"Radiologic Evaluation of Uncinate Processes of the cervical spine and the Relationship Between UP and Vertebral Artery: Implication in Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery.","author":"K Sun","year":"2024","journal-title":"World Neurosurg"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0315640.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"440","DOI":"10.5603\/FM.a2017.0010","article-title":"Morphometric analysis of the uncinate processes of the cervical vertebrae.","volume":"76","author":"N Kocabiyik","year":"2017","journal-title":"Folia Morphol (Warsz)."},{"key":"pone.0315640.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jot.2020.03.011","article-title":"Analysis of the morphometric change in the uncinate process of the cervical spondylosis patients: A study of radiological anatomy.","volume":"24","author":"S Cui","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Orthop Translat."},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0315640.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"748","DOI":"10.14245\/ns.1836272.136","article-title":"Morphometry of the Uncinate Process, Vertebral Body, and Lamina of the C3-7 Vertebrae Relevant to Cervical Spine Surgery","volume":"16","author":"V Raveendranath","year":"2019","journal-title":"Neurospine"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0315640.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"182","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsb.2018.08.006","article-title":"3D micro structural analysis ofhuman cortical bone in paired femoral diaphysis, femoral neck and radialdiaphysis","volume":"204","author":"R Gauthier","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Struct Biol"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0315640.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"204","DOI":"10.1007\/s10439-015-1368-6","article-title":"Apparent-and tissueHevel yield behav-iors of L4 vertebral trabecular bone and their associations with microar-chitectures","volume":"44","author":"H Gong","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ann Biomed Eng"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0315640.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"946","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bone.2007.08.019","article-title":"Regional variation in vertebralbone morphology and its contribution to vertebral fracture strength","volume":"41","author":"PA Hulme","year":"2007","journal-title":"Bone"},{"key":"pone.0315640.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12400","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-023-39703-4","article-title":"Exploring the micromorphological characteristics of adult lower cervical vertebrae based on micro-computed tomography.","volume":"13","author":"K. Li","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sci Rep."},{"issue":"33","key":"pone.0315640.ref011","first-page":"5356","article-title":"Micro-CT evaluation of the microstructural characteristics of the C2-C7 articular process region and its structural-functional stability","volume":"25","author":"Z Hu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research"},{"key":"pone.0315640.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bone.2016.11.018","article-title":"Cranio-caudal asymmetries in trabecu-lar architecture reflect vertebral fracture patterns","volume":"95","author":"G Yang","year":"2017","journal-title":"Bone"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0315640.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1080\/10255849908907982","article-title":"A model of bone adaptation usinga global optimisation criterion based on the trajeetorial theory of Wolff","volume":"2","author":"P Fernandes","year":"1999","journal-title":"Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin"},{"issue":"13","key":"pone.0315640.ref014","first-page":"2460","volume":"43","author":"X Shi","year":"2010","journal-title":"Type and orientation of yielded trabeculae during overloading of trabecular bone along orthogonal directions J Biomech"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0315640.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"297","DOI":"10.1186\/s13018-023-03760-2","article-title":"The quantification of 3D-trabecular architecture of the fourth cervical vertebra using CT osteoabsorptiometry and micro-CT","volume":"18","author":"A. Poilliot","year":"2023","journal-title":"Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0315640.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10543","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-14530-1","article-title":"Utility of micro-CT for dating post-cranial fractures of known post-traumatic ages through 3D measurements of the trabecular inner morphology.","volume":"12","author":"A. Viero","year":"2022","journal-title":"Scientific reports."},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0315640.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"682","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcms.2015.03.012","article-title":"Application of high resolution synchrotron micro-CT radiation in dental implant osseointegration","volume":"43","author":"CA Neldam","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery: official publication of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery"},{"issue":"14","key":"pone.0315640.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3559","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbiomech.2016.08.024","article-title":"Comparison of micro-CT post-processing methods for evaluating the trabecular bone volume fraction in a rat ACL-transection model","volume":"49","author":"K. E. Chin","year":"2016","journal-title":"Journal of biomechanics"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0315640.ref019","first-page":"37","article-title":"Correlations between structural and mechanical properties of human trabecular femur bone","volume":"14","author":"A. Nikodem","year":"2012","journal-title":"Acta of bioengineering and biomechanics"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0315640.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"375","DOI":"10.1016\/0021-9290(94)90014-0","article-title":"The relationship between the structural and orthogonal compressive properties of trabecular bone","volume":"27","author":"R. W. Goulet","year":"1994","journal-title":"Journal of biomechanics"},{"key":"pone.0315640.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jot.2021.02.002","article-title":"3-D microarchitectural properties and rod- and plate-like trabecular morphometric properties of femur head cancellous bones in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis","volume":"28","author":"Ming Ding","year":"2021","journal-title":"Journal of Orthopaedic Translation"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0315640.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1080\/00140139.2019.1677944","article-title":"Cervical spine joint loading with neck flexion.","volume":"63","author":"J. M. Barrett","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ergonomics"},{"issue":"336","key":"pone.0315640.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1016\/j.morpho.2017.07.175","article-title":"Micro-finite-element method to assess elastic properties of trabecular bone at micro- and macroscopic level","volume":"102","author":"R. Rieger","year":"2018","journal-title":"Morphologie: bulletin de l\u2019Association des anatomistes"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0315640.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2941","DOI":"10.1002\/cnm.2941","article-title":"Nonlinear micro-CT based FE modeling of trabecular bone-Sensitivity of apparent response to tissue constitutive law and bone volume fraction","volume":"34","author":"FA SABET","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int J Numer Method Biomed Eng"},{"key":"pone.0315640.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bone.2018.12.005","article-title":"Correlation between vertebral bone microstructure and estimated strength in elderly women: An ex vivo HR-pQCT study of cadaveric spine","volume":"120","author":"S YAMADA","year":"2019","journal-title":"Bone"},{"key":"pone.0315640.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2818.1997.1340694.x","article-title":"A new method for the model-independent assessment of thickness in three-dimensional images","volume":"185","author":"Hildebrand","year":"1997","journal-title":"Journal of Microscopy"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0315640.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2543","DOI":"10.1007\/s00198-011-1890-9","article-title":"Evaluation of bone microarchitecture by high-resolutionperipheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) in hemodialysis patients.","volume":"23","author":"AL Negri","year":"2012","journal-title":"Osteoporos Int"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0315640.ref028","first-page":"1184","article-title":"Study on the changes of bone microstructure in the osteoporotic hip fracture area","volume":"20","author":"Peng Jing","year":"2014","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Osteoporosis"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0315640.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2818.1997.1340694.x","article-title":"A New Method for the Model-Independent Assessment of ThicknessThree-DimensionalImages","volume":"185","author":"TR Hiidebrand","year":"2003","journal-title":"JMicrosc"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0315640.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1007\/s00402-021-04023-7","article-title":"Three-dimensional cortical and trabecular bone microstructure of the proximal ulna","volume":"143","author":"J. Viveen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0315640.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"182","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsb.2018.08.006","article-title":"3D micro structural analysisof human cortical bone in paired femoral diaphysis, femoral neck andradial diaphysis","volume":"204","author":"R GAUTHIER","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Struct Biol"},{"issue":"16","key":"pone.0315640.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"939","DOI":"10.1097\/BRS.0000000000002073","article-title":"Trabecular Microstructure and Damage Affect Cement Leakage From the Basivertebral Foramen During Vertebral Augmentation.","volume":"42","author":"S LI","year":"2017","journal-title":"Spine"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0315640.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4188","DOI":"10.1007\/s00586-016-4708-9","article-title":"Quantitative analysis of unusual entrance of the vertebral artery into the cervical foramen (V2 segment) and its clinical implications","volume":"25","author":"JT KIM","year":"2016","journal-title":"Eur Spine J"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0315640.ref034","first-page":"282","article-title":"Anatomical and morphometric evaluation of the foramen transversarium of cervical vertebrae","volume":"58","author":"\u0130MRE","year":"2016","journal-title":"Gulhane Medical Journal"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0315640","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]],"date-time":"2025-01-03T18:51:33Z","timestamp":1735930293000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0315640"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Priti","family":"Chaudhary","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0315640","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,3]]}}}