Bone Abstracts

The G protein-coupled receptor, protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2), is expressed by osteoblasts and required for normal skeletal growth and repair. Prostate cancer (PCa) cells commonly secrete proteolytic activators of PAR2 (including matriptase and kallikrein-related peptidase 4) and frequently form osteogenic metastases in bone. This study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that PAR2 activators released by PCa cells modulate osteo...

Introduction: Dentinogenesis imperfecta (DI) is a common dental aberration in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). Mutations that cause abnormal collagen chains will cause more serious types of OI and it has been claimed that DI should be a marker for qualitative defected collagen. It has also been supposed that normal development of teeth may be more dependent on normal α2(I) than normal α1(I) chains which are encoded by COLIA2 and COLIA1 ge...

Denosumab (DMAb) significantly improves bone strength at the hip, estimated by FEA from QCT scans, from baseline (B/L) and vs placebo (Pbo) (Keaveny ASBMR 2010). We determined the extent and distribution of mass and thickness changes at the proximal femur, a key skeletal site for fracture risk, using a novel cortical bone mapping technique on the same serial QCT scans. A FREEDOM substudy included 80 women who underwent hip QCT scanning at B/L and months 12, 24 and 36 during DM...

Brittle bones have been reported in children, adolescents and adults with cystic fibrosis (CF), independently of sex; this has been termed CF-related bone disease. In CF patients with the F508del mutation in the (Cftr) gene, vertebral fractures and the subsequent dorsal kyphosis decrease pulmonary function, thus accelerating the course of the disease. Mice with the homozygous F508del mutation in CFTR develop a severe osteopenic phenotype early on, in both sexes (Le He...

Turner syndrome (TS) is known to be associated with increased risk of osteoporosis and fracture. Childhood treatment with GH has been considered standard of care for treatment of growth failure in TS, while the influence of GH on bone health has been poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of GH on bone microarchitecture on a cohort of TS subjects.TS subjects aged 16–45 were included. Bone mineral density (BMD) was as...

Fractures are very common and affect 2% of the population per annum. Fragility fractures represent the greatest unmet need and are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Currently, there is no approved therapy for enhancing healing of fragility fractures. We previously reported that upregulation of the early inflammatory response following skeletal injury can promote fracture repair (Glass et al PNAS 2011). Inflammation represents the earliest response followin...

Bone resorption and formation occur in a tightly regulated fashion reflecting the coupled activities of osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Several pathological conditions perturb this balance, including osteoporosis and skeletal metastases. In the case of metastases, the uncoupling of resorption and formation activities contributes to disseminated tumor cells homing to the bone and to tumor growth within the bone in highly localized regions. Therefore, a site-specific marker of bone...

Bisphosphonate treatment reduces fracture risk in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. However, some patients have an inadequate response to treatment. Estradiol and sclerostin play an important role in bone metabolism. Sclerostin is an endogenous inhibitor of osteoblastic activity and estrogen deficiency increases osteoclast activity and bone resorption.We examined the influence of both measures on fracture incidence in postmenopausal osteoporosis in...

Hip fractures are a major cause of burden in terms of mortality, disability, and costs. In Ireland, 3000 hip fracture occur annually and is expected to increase over the coming years1. Estimated cost of hip fractures is &z.euro;14 300/admission2. Outpatient non-attendance is a source of inefficiency, wasting time, resources and lengthens waiting lists. Non attendees have a significant negative impact on productivity, their own care and resources. In 2008,...

Cases of non-vitamin D deficiency rickets have been reported in African countries including The Gambia, South Africa and Nigeria where the likely aetiology is a chronically low dietary calcium intake. Additional aetiological factors in Gambian studies are iron deficiency leading to a disruption in phosphate metabolism.Surgical correction of pathological rickets-like lower-limb deformities is the most common operation performed at the Beit Cure Orthopaedi...