Bone Abstracts

Abaloparatide (BA058) is a synthetic analog of PTHrP1–34 which greatly increases bone mass and bone strength with preservation of normal bone quality in animal models of osteoporosis. Daily s.c. abaloparatide (ABLSC) at doses of up to 80 μg daily in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis for up to 48 weeks were associated with increases in spine and femoral neck BMD of up to 12.9 and 4.1% respectively and good safety and tolerability. The increa...

High-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) provides a non-invasive measure of 3D micro-architecture at a nominal isotropic resolution of 82 μm, and more recently 61 μm with the new generation of scanners. The typical measurement site is at the peripheral skeleton, including the distal radius and distal tibia. The measurement is performed in <2 min now, and radiation dose is low for each scan (~5 μSv). Since it’s introduction i...

Type 2 diabetes mellitus prevalence increases with age and the disease predisposes to increased risk of fractures and skeletal complications. One possible contributor to skeletal weakening in diabetes is a decline in blood supply. We hypothesised that bone blood flow is impaired in diabetic mice and that chronic administration of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) can increase blood flow to bone, thereby stimulating bone formation and improving bone architectu...

Effects of whole bone scaling on isolated osteoblast behaviours are unknown. Exhibiting a huge range in size, inbred canines are an ideal species to determine such relationships. We have therefore undertaken initial studies in both male and female red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), the most abundant and accessible wild canid member in the United Kingdom.Femoral heads were removed from five fresh red fox cadavers (see details on table) and bone fragments...

Effects of whole bone scaling on isolated osteoblast behaviour are unknown. With two orders of magnitude range in body mass, dog breeds are well-suited to determine such relationships.Femoral heads from three canine hip replacement surgeries were collected. Bone fragments were washed in PBS+AB/AM, trypsin-digested and incubated in 0.2% collagenase. Cells from resultant supernatant were seeded in DMEM+10% FCS+AB/AM at 37 °C, 5% CO2, g...

Bone mineralization is initiated by matrix vesicles (MVs), cell-derived structures released into the extracellular matrix which are nucleation sites for hydroxyapatite (HA) formation. It is suggested that annexins are mineralization-stimulating membrane proteins that exhibit ion channel activity and facilitate the influx of Ca2+ into MVs. The process is also regulated via enzymatic degradation of inhibitory pyrophosphate by tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (T...

Osteoclasts are the major bone resorbing cells, essential for bone turnover and development. Human osteoclasts can be generated in vitro by stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with M-CSF and RANK-L. Seeding fully differentiated osteoclasts onto mineralized surfaces facilitates the analysis of molecular interactions between the osteoclast and the mineralized matrix.Currently, a widely used protocol for harvesting osteoclasts...

Diabetes leads to development of osteoporosis. Experimental type 1 diabetes may be induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ), and nicotinamide (NA) administered 15 min before STZ dose-dependently protects against the STZ action. Coffee drinking, apart of its health benefits, is taken into consideration as an osteoporosis risk factor. Data from human and experimental studies on coffee and caffeine effects on the skeletal system are inconsistent. For example, although oth...

Bone mineral density (BMD) changes were estimated in kidney recipients. In 63 patients aged 24–64 years, measured creatinine clearance at the end of the first posttransplant year was >50 ml/min and remained stable over the study period, bone mineral density (BMD) was estimated in the lumbar spine, femoral neck, Ward’s triangle and the distal third of the radius using dual energy absorptiometry (DEXA) 0.1–4, 12–18 and 23–36 months after transplantat...

Objective: Both inflammation and vascular calcification have been known as independent risk factors of cardiovascular events. However, the induction mechanism of vascular calcification by inflammation is still unclear. We here assessed the molecular effects of pro-inflammatory cytokines on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification.Methods: VSMCs from human aorta cultured in osteoblast induction medium (OIM) and stimulated by pro-inflammatory cytok...