Bone Abstracts

A mixture of Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) and Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are added to commercial infant formula to promote an intestinal microbiota similar to that prevalent in breast-fed infants to improve Ca bioavailability and general health, but their mechanisms are under debate.Our objective was to evaluate the beneficial effects of the mixture of GOS/FOS added to infant formulae, on the absorption of Ca, Mg and P of a low Ca diet. Changes in in...

Introduction: A significant number of patient who have experienced previous surgical treatment for an osteoporotic hip fracture, experienced a subsequent hip fracture (SHF) on the opposite side. The incidence of asynchronous bilateral hip fractures is 1.7–14.8%. All hip fracture patients treated at five university hospitals in the Inchon and Bucheon area of Korea, were reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups, a group that had experienced subsequent hip fractur...

Vertebral fractures (VF) defined by morphometric analysis of spine radiographs are the most common complication of osteoporosis. Those that come to medical attention, with symptoms such as back pain and kyphosis are termed clinical vertebral fractures (CVF) and account for significant morbidity and mortality. Although much progress was made in identifying loci for bone mineral density, the genetic determinants of CVF remain unclear. Here we present the initial results from a g...

Background: Geleophysic dysplasia is a rare genetic bone disorder characterized by severe short stature, short hands and feet, characteristic facial features, limited joint mobility, thick skin, progressive cardiac valvular disorders and sometimes upper respiratory stenosis. Diagnosis of this disorder is based on clinical and radiographic criteria. Until now only 60 cases have been reported in the literature.Case report: One-month-old male baby was initi...

Background: Spondylo-epiphyseal dysplasia tarda (SEDT) is a rare late-onset X-linked recessive osteochondrodysplasia that mainly involves the epiphyses and vertebral bodies. Patients usually have short stature and early development of degenerative joint disease.Presenting problem: A 12-year-old boy was referred to our hospital for evaluation of short stature. His height was 125 cm (−3.03 SDS), weight was 22 kg (−0.5 SDS), arm span 130 cm. The...

Despite its importance, the resorptive surface of osteoclasts has not been directly visualised. We exploited a novel approach that enables us to inspect the substrate-apposed surface of cells. To achieve this, we incubated osteoclasts on vitronectin-coated nail varnish and, afterwards, we dissolved the substrate and visualised the cells resorbing-side up in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). We then employed confocal microscopy to correlate the SEM appearances with the di...

Background: Vibration analysis is a well-established technique in industry to analyse materials physical properties. The application to bone’s physical properties is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between bone vibration frequency and mass:volume ratio (ρ).Methods: We used eight turkey bones (tibio tursus). Following soft tissue removal, a 12 cm diaphyseal section was isolated, marrow removed using a water jet and the...

Objective: The enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is known to play an important role in the removal of circulating homocysteine via the methionine cycle. C677T polymorphism is associated with higher plasma homocysteine levels, which could affect collagen maturation. The aim of the present study was to examine possible associations of C677T polymorphism in the MTHFR gene with a variability of femoral (F-BMD), spinal BMD (S-BMD) together with circulating...

Objective: Currently, majority of the osteoporotic patients are not diagnosed i) a new ultrasound based device (Bindex) has been recently introduced for osteoporosis (OP) screening and diagnostics at primary healthcare ii) Bindex measures cortical thickness and determines parameter called density index (DI). Thresholds for DI in OP assessment have been determined in Finnish-Caucasian (F-C) population (n=448) along the International Society of Clinical Densitometry (IS...

Background: There is significant inter and intraobserver variability in diagnosing vertebral fractures in children. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of morphometric vertebral fracture analysis (MXA) using a 33-point software programme designed for adults, on dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) images of children.Methods: Lateral spine DXA images of 420 children aged between 5 and 18 years were retrospectively reviewed. Vertebral fracture a...