Bone Abstracts

Background: Recent technological ‘omics’ advances have empowered us to identify associations between genetic markers and various traits. Knowledge of serum metabolites as intermediary phenotypes can help us achieve a better understanding of the causal pathways from genes to complex diseases like osteoporosis.Methods: In the context of TwinsUK study, serum metabolomic profiles of 6055 participants were assessed using a non-targeted mass spectrom...

Subchondral bone remodelling and osteophyte growth are widely recognised hallmarks of knee osteoarthritis (OA) although their contribution to disease is not fully understood. Murine models, with targeted genetic modifications, have become powerful tools for discovering disease pathophysiology. Our unpublished observations suggest that osteophyte formation is independent of cartilage loss thereby implying potentially independent molecular drivers. We have developed a novel imag...

The relationship between bone formation and blood flow is unclear. Recently, PTH was reported to activate production of nitric oxide (NO), a potent vasorelaxing agent, in endothelial cells and we and others have confirmed a strong vasorelaxing action of PTH in vivo in the mouse. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a potent NO synthase inhibitor (L-NAME: NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester) may alter the effect of intermittent PTH (iPTH) on b...

Osteoporosis and fragility fractures correlated, are a major clinical problem in older women and men and a major public health problem worldwide. As the population ages, the incidence of osteoporotic fractures is increasing. These fractures are associated with higher health care costs, physical disability, impaired quality of life, and increased mortality.Aim: evaluation of the frequency, type and age of onset of fragility fractures in 110 centenarians (...

GH is an important anabolic hormone involved in the regulation of longitudinal bone growth. However, acromegaly patients have a higher prevalence of vertebral fractures despite normal bone mineral density (BMD), suggesting that GH overexpression has adverse effects on skeletal architecture and strength. We used giant bovine GH (bGH) transgenic mice to analyse the effects of high serum GH levels on BMD, architecture and mechanical strength. Five month-old hemizygous male bGH mi...

It has long been known that osteoarthritis induces dramatic structural changes in subchondral bone. Studies on patients’ biopsies have also shown that the new sclerotic bone is hypomineralized and has decreased elastic modulus. Due to their amenability for genetic studies, murine models of OA are particularly important for drug target discovery. However, whilst osteosclerosis has been reported also in murine OA models, little is known about the compositional and mechanica...

We used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the morphology and development of mineralization-competent matrix vesicles (MVs) secreted by chondrocytes isolated from WT and Phospho1−/− mice in order to validate the role of PHOSPHO1 in MV mineralization. All MVs appeared as flattened globular features either individually dispersed or connected to a mat-like structure. The mat-like structure very closely resembled type-X collagen that has been de...

Aim: Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS) is an invasive treatment able to control local disease and pain of bone tumors. Unfortunately, there is not any scientific evidence of the biological effect of MRgFUS treatment on tumor cells, especially in lower dose region, where tissues are only warmed to sub-lethal temperatures. Here we investigate the effect of in vitro MRgFUS treatment, at different levels of acoustic energy (200–630 J), on ...