Bone Abstracts

The biomineralization process is initiated inside matrix vesicles (MVs), with phosphate and calcium ions crystallizing as hydroxyapatite. This process is accomplished by the activities of several proteins, such as annexins (e.g. AnxV) that mediates Ca2+ influx into MVs and tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP), a phosphomonohydrolase that uses ATP and PPi as substrates. Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine (DPPS...

Pioglitazone is a drug of the thiazolidinedione (TZD) class used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. TZD is an agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPAR-γ) that improves insulin sensitivity, glucose and lipid metabolism and inflammation. However, TZD induces bone marrow adiposity with suppression of osteogenesis, that could contribute to bone loss and osteoporotic fractures. β-Cryptoxanthin is a carotenoid with antioxidant properties abundant ...

The healing of bone fractures is a tightly regulated process where released growth factors and cytokines interplay within an inflammatory environment in order to reestablish the functional bone. Recent studies have suggested that endothelial cells may dedifferentiate into mesenchymal multipotent cells via a mechanism called endothelial-to-mesenchymal-transition (EndoMT). Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) plays a critical role inducing EndoMT. Subsequent differenti...

Extracellular nucleotides stimulate both the formation and resorptive activity of osteoclasts. Ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterases (NPPs) hydrolyse extracellular nucleotide triphosphates to their corresponding monophosphate and pyrophosphate (PPi). We investigated if osteoclasts express functional NPPs and whether Enpp1 gene deletion influenced osteoclast formation and activity. Osteoclasts were formed from the bone marrow of 8 and 15 week old knockou...

Introduction: The creatine kinase (CK) is a dimeric enzyme, involved in energetical metabolism. It is present in many tissues, but higher concentration in skeletal and cardiac muscle.Therefore, conditions that involve muscle tissue may increase this serum enzyme. Such enzyme elevation is usually observed in inflammatory myopathies and others autoimmune diseases.Sometimes some elevation in CK is not fully understood out off these co...

Medial vascular calcification (MVC) is a pathological condition common to a variety of diseases, including chronic kidney disease, diabetes, obesity, generalized arterial calcification of infancy, arterial calcification due to deficiency of CD73, and Keutel syndrome. These diseases share the common feature of tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) upregulation in the vasculature. We developed a mouse model that overexpresses human TNAP in vascular smooth muscle cells, ...

Loss of the gene encoding the secreted Wnt antagonist sclerostin results in increased bone mass in humans and mice. Administration of antibodies to sclerostin (Scl-Ab) has been shown to increase bone mineral density (BMD) by increasing bone formation and decreasing bone resorption, in both animal studies and human clinical trials. In these studies, the magnitude and rate of increase in bone formation markers, and the rate of increase of BMD, diminishes upon repeat dosing with ...

Fracture prevalence in children appears to change in recent years due to variations in physical activity and enforcement of laws that protect children within motor vehicles. However, in Mexico such variation has not been explored so far.Objective: To analyze fracture prevalence in the paediatric population of Mexico to detect patterns of change in time, between genres and among different diagnoses.Methods: We analyzed data from the...

Several environmental and genetic factors may interfere on bone mass in children. However, the pediatric studies that approach the socioeconomic status and quantitative ultrasound (QUS) parameters are scarce. The aim of this study was to compare the bone mass in girls from 7 to 15 years old of different socioeconomic status. The sample consisted of 860 Brazilian girls (8.95±1.32) of different socioeconomic status. The bone mass parameter, amplitude dependent speed sound (...

The childhood is an important period for bone mass acquisition, and this tissue may be influenced by the nutritional status. However, the relation between the nutritional status and the bone parameters of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to verify the influence of nutritional status on bone mass assessed by QUS in male children from 7 to 10 years old. The sample consisted of 461 Brazilians pre-pubertal schoolchildren (8.30±1.13 year...