Bone Abstracts

Objectives: To evaluate the frequency of low serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities in patients referred to a tertiary children’s hospital. Another item was to explore potentially missed diagnoses and to evaluate the role of laboratory screening for hypophosphatasia.Study design: A retrospective evaluation over an 6-year period (between December 2010 and December 2016) carried out to identify children and adolescents, referred to Anna Meyer Chi...

Objectives: Bisphosphonates are frequently used in children with skeletal disorders, however optimal dosing and regimens are unknown. Early treatment focused on pamidronate (PAM), a second-generation formulation, however use of zoledronate (ZOL), a more potent third-generation bisphosphonate, has recently increased due to shorter and less frequent infusions. The objective of this study is to compare short-term safety of ZOL and PAM in a pediatric population.<p class="abste...

Objectives: Young male jockeys undertake calorie restriction and high volumes of physical activity during periods of musculoskeletal growth and development. Previous research shows that jockeys have compromised bone health1–4 and display disordered eating5–7. Restricted intakes of calcium and vitamin D, together with excessive amounts of exercise, increase the risk of osteoporosis in males8. The aim of this study was to establish whet...

The neuro-hypophiseal hormone oxytocin (OT) is a novel anabolic regulator of bone mass (Tamma et al. PNAS, 2009), upregulating expression of critical osteoblast transcription factors. These effects are mediated by oxytocin receptor, a GPCR expressed by osteoblasts. Recently an increasing number of reports indicates that GPCRs could be targeted to the nuclear membrane; prostaglandin receptors, endothelin receptors and β-adrenergic receptors among others (...

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...

Introduction: Currently, the only available method to reliably predict osteoporotic fractures is represented by bone mineral density (BMD) measurements on proximal femur or spine, which require the use of X-rays. Aim of this study is to illustrate working principles and feasibility of a new ultrasound (US) method for bone densitometry and osteoporosis diagnosis applicable on both proximal femur and spine.Methods: A new fully automatic algorithm was devel...

Objective: Rett syndrome (RTT) is an X-linked neurodevelopment disorder. More than 95% of RTT female have mutations in methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2), whose protein product modulates gene transcription. Specific MECP2 mutations may lead phenotypic variability and different degrees of disease severity. It is known that low bone mass is a frequent complication of subjects with Rett syndrome. This study aimed to investigate if specific MECP2 mutations may affects the degree...

Compliance with prescribed drugs is poor in most chronic conditions and osteoporosis is no exception. Compliance integrates the concepts adherence (how much drug is taken) and persistence (for how long) and also if the patient follow the instructions for a correct use of the medication. Between 50 and 75% of patients initiating antiosteoporosis drugs are not taken the treatment 1 year later. Obviously, this problem significantly decreases the effect of drugs. A smaller increas...

Chordomas are rare, low to intermediate grade malignant bone tumors of the axial skeleton. Current treatment options are limited to surgical procedures as chordomas are largely resistant to conventional radiation and chemotherapy. Cell lines are valuable tools to explore molecular mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis and they have a fundamental impact on the development of new anticancer agents. We established a novel chordoma cell-line, MUG-Chor1, from a recurrent morphologic...

The skeleton is a preferred site of metastasis in patients with advanced breast cancer, and bone loss is one of the major complications of breast cancer metastasis. Therefore, prevention of bone metastasis is clinically important. Our previous observation of an anti-osteoclastic activity of Trolox, a vitamin E analogue, led us to investigate whether Trolox could inhibit bone metastasis and bone destruction induced by breast cancer. I.P. administration of Trolox markedly inhibi...