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How Bone Loading and Bone Loss Affect Nerve Reflexes in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

Studies how bone loading changes the H-reflex in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Key facts

Who runs it
Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital
Where
Bahçelievler, TürkiyeSee the site
Trial code
Registry title
Effect of Mechanical Loading and Bone Loss on Motor Neuron Activity-H-Reflex Relationship
Status
Recruiting
People taking part
24 people, planned
Started
18 Nov 2025
Planned end
Apr 2026
Type of study
Interventional, 2 groups
Treatments tested
  • H-reflex
  • Bone myoregulation reflex
Record updated
28 November 2025

Who can take part

AI summary

From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.

The trial is looking for women after menopause. Some have osteoporosis in the hip bone, and others have healthy bones for comparison.

Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
Women only
Disease stage
Osteoporosis group: osteoporosis of the femur (femoral neck or total femur T-score ≤ -2.5). Control group: no osteoporosis or osteopenia (femoral neck and total femur T-scores > -1, and L1-L4 and L2-L4 T-scores > -1).
Earlier treatment
People who are receiving osteoporosis treatment cannot join.
Biomarker or test result
Bone density T-score: ≤ -2.5 at the femur for the osteoporosis group; > -1 at the femur and spine for the control group.

Main reasons for not taking part

  • Receiving osteoporosis treatment
  • Disorder of the peripheral or central nervous system
  • Muscle disease (myopathy)
  • Active painful lower leg or leg joint problems, such as osteoarthritis
  • Heart rhythm problems (cardiac arrhythmias)

The registry criteria, word for word

Show all 12 criteriaShow less

Who can take part

  • Being in the postmenopausal period
  • For the osteoporosis group: having femoral osteoporosis (femoral neck or total femur T-score ≤ -2.5)
  • For the control group: having no osteoporosis or osteopenia (femoral neck and total femur T-scores > -1, and L1-L4 and L2-L4 T-scores > -1)
  • Being a volunteer

Who cannot take part

  • Receiving osteoporosis treatment
  • Having a peripheral or central nervous system disorder (e.g., stroke, polyneuropathy, radiculopathy, entrapment neuropathy, etc.)
  • Having acquired or hereditary muscle diseases (myopathies)
  • Having active painful lower extremity pathologies (e.g., osteoarthritis, inflammatory joint diseases, etc.)
  • Having cardiac arrhythmias
  • Having a history of other metabolic bone diseases
  • Being older than 65 years
  • Having skin lesions at the electrode placement sites on the lower extremities

Check if you might fit

Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.

  • Are you between 18 and 65 years old?

Where in Türkiye

  • Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training & Research HospitalBahçelievler, TürkiyeContact: Fuat Orhun Alayoğlu, Attending DoctorTaking people

About the trial

What the trial wants to find out

Weight-bearing exercises (e.g., running, jumping, whole-body vibration) are widely practiced due to their beneficial effects on bone development and their role in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. However, the underlying neuroregulatory mechanisms responsible for these positive effects have not yet been fully understood. Two main neuromodulatory mechanisms have been proposed in the literature: (i) spinal reflexes originating from muscle spindles (stretch reflex, tonic vibration reflex), and (ii) the bone myoregulation reflex (BMR) based on load-sensitive osteocytes.

Read full original descriptionShow less

It is well established that increased voluntary contraction and the associated rise in background EMG activity, that is, motor neuron pool activity, enhance muscle spindle-based reflex responses (such as the H-reflex and tendon reflex). In contrast, it has been demonstrated that the H-reflex is suppressed during bone-loading activities such as single-leg stance, jumping, or whole-body vibration.

This study is based on two hypotheses:

* As mechanical loading increases, Ia inhibitory effects intensify, leading to greater H-reflex suppression. * During whole-body vibration, the H-reflex is suppressed due to Ia inhibition.

If this inhibition originates from load-sensitive receptors-osteocytes-and thus from the BMR, then in osteoporosis, where osteocyte number and function are reduced, H-reflex suppression will be diminished.

The aim of this research is to test these hypotheses. Confirmation of these assumptions would suggest that reflex control during weight-bearing exercise occurs predominantly through osteocyte-mediated BMR mechanisms rather than muscle spindle-based mechanisms such as the stretch or tonic vibration reflex.

The 2 groups in the trial

  • Postmenapausal femoral osteoporosisOther group

    Subjects with diagnosed femoral osteoporosis will be in this arm. Femoral osteoporosis is defined as T-scores of -2.5 or lower in femoral neck or total femur obtained in dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Subjects will have their H-reflex amplitude measured in 6 different settings and will be applied 10 seconds whole-body vibration in 4 different frequencies to measure bone mroregulation reflex.

    Treatment: H-reflex and Bone myoregulation reflex

  • Healthy controlOther group

    Subjects who do not have osteoporosis or osteopenia will be in this arm. Subjects in this group will have L1-L4, L2-L4, femoral neck and total femur T-scores of greater than -1 obtained in dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Subjects will have their H-reflex amplitude measured in 6 different settings and will be applied 10 seconds whole-body vibration in 4 different frequencies to measure bone mroregulation reflex.

    Treatment: H-reflex and Bone myoregulation reflex

Questions to ask the study team

  1. How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
  2. Are travel costs paid?
  3. Can I keep my own doctor?
  4. What happens if I want to stop?

Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations

Print a page for my doctor

Data and sources

Registry record
Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Official title
The Effect of Mechanical Loading and Bone Loss on the Relationship Between Motor Neuron Pool Activity and H-Reflex Amplitude
Plain-language title
How Bone Loading and Bone Loss Affect Nerve Reflexes in Postmenopausal OsteoporosisGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
Fit questions
Built from NCT07253493, who can take part
Record updated
28 November 2025