Serum samples were collected at the time of sacrifice and stored at −80°C. Serum levels of Pro-collagen type 1 N terminal propeptide (P1NP) were measured using the Rat/Mouse P1NP EIA kit (Immunodiagnostic Systems, Fountain Hills, AZ, USA) and serum C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX-1) levels were measured using RatLaps (CTX-1) EIA kit (Immunodiagnostic Systems Inc., Gaithersburg, MD, USA). The MILLIPLEX MAP mouse angiogenesis magnetic bead panel – multiplex assay was used to measure serum VEGF-A levels (MAGPMAG-24K, EMD Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA). All the assays were performed as recommended by the manufacturers and all the samples were assayed in duplicate. A standard curve was generated from each kit, and the absolute concentrations were extrapolated from the standard curves. The coefficients of variations for inter-assay and intra-assay measurements were < 10% for all assays and are similar to the manufacturers’ references [28 (link),29 (link)].