Bone Abstracts

BMPs and canonical Wnts are the representative developmental signals that enhance osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. Previously, we demonstrated that EGF inhibits BMP2-induced osteoblast differentiation through the induction of Smurf1 expression. However, the regulatory role of EGF in Wnt/β-catenin-induced osteoblast differentiation has not been elucidated. In this study, we investigated the effect of EGF on Wnt/β-catenin signaling-induced osteoblast diff...

Distal-less homeobox 5 (Dlx5) is a transcription factor that enhances osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells via upregulating the expression of Runx2 and other osteoblast phenotypic genes. We have previously demonstrated that Dlx5 also downregulates adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and that insulin decreases expression levels of Dlx5 via increasing expression levels of miR-124, a microRNA targeting 3′UTR of Dlx5. However, the mechanism o...

Objectives: Multiple studies have documented the presence of systemic osteopenia in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and in simulated animal models. Osteopenia was also found to be associated with severe curves and as one of the prognostic factor in predicting curve progression in AIS. The objective of this study was to compare the bone quality and its association with osteopenia between AIS and normal controls.Methods: AIS (n=234) and non-AIS gi...

Introduction: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is associated with osteopenia, which was found to be a significant prognostic factor for curve progression. However, in-depth quantitative assessment of bone quality was previously hampered by invasive nature of the investigations. The recently available high-resolution pQCT (HR-pQCT) allows a three-dimensional assessment of the bone quality in-vivo. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the bone quality in AIS gi...

Mesenchymal cells alter and retain their phenotype during skeletal development through activation or suppression of signaling pathways. For example, we have shown that Wnt3a only stimulates osteoblast differentiation in cells with intrinsic osteogenic potential (e.g., MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts) and not in fat cell precursors or fibroblasts (respectively, 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes or NIH3T3 fibroblasts). Wnt3a promotes osteogenesis in part by stimulating autocrine production of the ...

Study design: Prospective study.Objectives: The risk factors correlated with actual falls were assessed in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.Materials and methods: In 201 patients (M:F 65:136) with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis, falls history within recent one year was investigated. The factors which were expected correlation with actual falls were evaluated together. Blood chemistry was performed to evaluate serum Vitamin ...

Objectives: AIS is a prevalent three-dimensional spinal deformity associated with low bone mass which has been reported to be a significant prognostic factor for curve progression in AIS. If left untreated, low bone mass in AIS could persist into adulthood thus leading to subsequent health problems. This study aimed at evaluating the therapeutic effect of oral calcium plus Vit-D supplementation for low bone mass in skeletally immature AIS girls.Methods: ...

Objectives: Vitamin D is essential for bone modeling/remodeling but the relationship between vitamin D status, bone mineral density (BMD) and bone quality parameters remains controversial especially in adolescent population. The aims of this study wase to evaluate the vitamin D status and its correlation with BMD and bone quality parameters among adolescent girls in Hong Kong where information is lacking.Methods: 156 adolescent girls (11–15 years ol...

Objectives: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) was associated with low bone mass which, apart from being an important health issue that could persist into adulthood, was also a significant prognostic factor for curve progression in AIS. We have performed a randomized controlled trial on whole-body vibration (WBV) and reported its effect on increasing femoral neck areal bone mineral density (aBMD) mainly at the dominant leg. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ro...

Objectives: AIS is associated with both low bone mass and elevated serum bone alkaline phosphatase. The greater the latitude of the geographical region, the higher is the prevalence of AIS. These specific features were compatible with the presence of either Vit-D insufficiency or abnormal physiology with Vit-D. It is important to evaluate these potentially treatable conditions regarding their roles in the etiopathogenesis of AIS. The objectives of this case-control study were ...