Bone Abstracts

Metastasis to bone is the leading cause of death for breast carcinoma, and much focus in the biology and therapy relays on epigenetic alterations. Since DNA-methyltransferase blockade counteracts tumour growth, we utilized 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (dAza) to clarify whether molecular events undergoing epigenetic control were critical for bone metastatization. Here, we studied Secreted-Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC), matricellular glycoprotein associated with bo...

Backgound: Limited data are available on body composition of preterm compared to born at term infants. The aim of our study was to compare bone mass, fat mass-FM and free fat mass-FFM in preterm and term infants at 40th weeks of gestational age (GA).Methods: Thirty-four preterm infants (14M, 20F) born at 31.0±2.2 weeks of GA (range 26–36+3 weeks) and n=8 term neonates (4M, 4F) born at 39.7±1.0 weeks of GA underwent a to...

Background: Stuve–Wiedemann syndrome (SWS, OMIM 601559) is a severe autosomal recessive condition characterized by bowing of the lower limbs with cortical thickening, wide metaphyses, abnormal trabecular pattern and camptodactyly. Additional features include dysautonomia symptoms with temperature instability, respiratory distress and sucking/swallowing difficulties in the first months of life.Most SWS cases do not survive beyond the first y...

Objective: Individuals with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have difficulty coordinating movements and are often unable to perform common, age-appropriate tasks. Approximately 5–6% of school-aged children are affected by DCD and the condition may persist throughout adolescence and into adulthood. Australian adolescents with DCD have poor bone health compared to European normative data. It can be hypothesized that this is due to a lack of loading resulting from d...

Objectives: Adolescents with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have significantly lower bone mineral density (BMD) compared to their non-affected peers. Their difficulty in performing weight bearing movement skills is hypothesised to explain poorer bone characteristics. This feasibility study examined the impact of a 13-week exercise intervention on tibial bone parameters in adolescents with DCD.Methods: Twenty-eight adolescents with DCD particip...

Introduction: Recently reported high incidences of hip fractures emphasize the need of more effective methods for osteoporosis diagnosis, currently performed essentially by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) examinations of the proximal femur. However, high costs and radiation-related issues do not allow DXA employment for population mass screenings. Aim of this study is to carry out a preliminary clinical validation of a new ultrasound (US)-based method to perform femoral...

Objectives: Impairment of bone mass accrual and alterations of bone metabolism is a common finding in HIV-infected youths. In particular, previous studies demonstrated higher bone formation and bone resorption rates in HIV-infected children and adolescents. Wnt ligands promote bone formation by stimulating osteoblast differentiation and their survival. Recent studies demonstrated that sclerostin (Scl) and dickkopf factor 1 (DKK-1), Wnt antagonists, are important negative regul...

Objectives: Gorham-Stout disease (GSD) is a very rare disorder characterized by extensive angiomatous proliferation and progressive osteolysis without new bone formation. Only ~200 patients were reported. The quality of life is very poor since patients display pain, fractures, functional impairment and swelling of the affected regions. The ethiology of GSD is unknown. We aim to investigate the bone phenotype and to identify molecular and cellular defects in GSD patients.<p...

Objectives: This cross-sectional observational study examined peripheral long bone material and structural differences in youth at risk of secondary osteoporosis across disease-specific profiles using peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT).Methods: Scans of the upper (radius; ulna) and lower (tibia; fibula) limbs of children at 4% distal and 66% mid-shaft sites were undertaken using pQCT. Specific groups were those with (1) increased risk of ...

Objectives: The present study aims to evaluate the longitudinal association of fat mass (FM), fat free mass (FFM) with bone stiffness index (BSI) in European children and adolescents over 2 and 6 years follow-up. METHODS: We included children of the IDEFICS/I. Family cohort, who participated in repeated measurements of BSI using calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS), body composition using skinfold thickness, sedentary behaviours (SB) and physical activity (PA) using self-ad...