Bone Abstracts

Antiresorptives consistently improve bone mass and structural strength in normally- and under-loaded bones, but concerns have been raised regarding potential effects on skeletal adaptation to fatigue loading, including damage accumulation and atypical fractures. We thus inhibited or activated osteoclasts with OPG-Fc or RANKL treatment, respectively, and evaluated bone damage and strength after fatigue in the early and later phases of repair. Adult male mice were treated with R...

The essential micronutrient Selenium (Se) plays an important role for bone formation and homeostasis. This notion is mainly derived from animal experimental studies showing impaired bone development and reduced measures of bone quality in animals on diets with low Se supply. Selenoprotein P (SePP) functions as the central Se storage and transport protein. SePP-knockout mice have a growth deficit. SePP is taken up by a receptor-mediated mechanism. We hypothesize that impaired S...

Genetic approaches to bone physiology utilising judicious gain and loss of function models have identified bone as an endocrine organ, being involved in the regulation of energy metabolism and reproduction. Recent advances expand our understanding and identify a new and unconventional role of bone beyond its classical functions. PHOSPHO1 is a bone specific phosphatase with a recognised role in bone mineralisation, but our present studies have now identified a novel role for PH...

The renal stones found in the mummies of Pandolfo III Malatesta, Lord of Fano (1370–1427) and an anonymous nobleman from Popoli (XVIII century) were investigated using different techniques. Both specimens were examined with binocular stereomicroscopy (BSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), also with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Multiple tiny fragments from surface and inner portions were submitted to X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Subsequently, the cal...

It has been recently reported that, after physical exercise activity, the skeletal muscle releases Irisin, the newly identified myokine able of driving transition of white adipocytes to brown, following a phenomenon known as the browning response. This result has suggested that skeletal muscle is crucial in the regulation of energy homeostasis, supporting the idea that it can be considered an endocrine organ that targets adipose tissue by promoting energy expenditure. In accor...

Biographical DetailsDr Matthew L Warman is the Harriet M Peabody Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Genetics at Harvard Medical School. He attended college at Brown University and Medical School at Cornell University. While in medical school, he performed research with Dr Adele Boskey at The Hospital for Special Surgery. After medical school he trained in Pediatrics at the Children&#146...

Bisphosphonates are the mainstay of medical therapy in the fracturing child with osteoporosis. The majority of the data in children pertains to i.v. pamidronate use in children and adolescents with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), where pamidronate has been associated with improvements in bone mineral density, cortical thickness, vertebral shape, pain, mobility and height.1 Side-effects of pamidronate including acute phase response to the initial dose and retardation o...

Objective: The physis, or growth plate, is comprised of precisely organized chondrocytes that confer longitudinal growth of the bone. Multiple signaling pathways cooperate to regulate growth through their control of chondrocyte shape, polarity, proliferation, and differentiation.1,2 Disruption of these cellular events result in physeal defects, skeletal deformities, and abnormal limb growth. Loss of function mutations in Smad4, a common intracellular effector of all...

Metatropic dysplasia (MD) was first described by Maroteaux et al. in 1966. Its name was derived from the Greek word metatropos which means ‘changing pattern’ because individuals with this diagnosis begin life with a short-limbed dysplasia and a long trunk with narrow chest, and over time their dysplasia becomes short-trunked due to progressive kyphoscoliosis1. It is now recognized that MD is caused by gain-of-function mutations in transie...

Osteoporosis is a chronic disease with a high prevalence in older adults. There is evidence that statins have some beneficial effects on bone metabolism. Although the trial reports are ambiguous, it is now accepted that statins block the osteoclast differentiation inhibiting to some extent bone resorption. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of a statin in an animal model, which was induced to osteoporosis by glucocorticoids and then treated with atorvastatin. The experimental...