Bone Abstracts

Introduction: QCT of the spine is typically restricted to the BMD analysis of the lumbar vertebrae. However, fractures frequently occur in the thoracolumbar region. Also the load distribution in the spine may depend on the intervertebral disc space (IDS), a good approximation of the intervertebral disc, which itself cannot be reliably assessed by X-ray based methods.Materials and methods: A QCT 3D acquisition and automated analysis technique (with option...

Treatment with sclerostin antibody (Scl-Ab) increases bone formation and strength in animal models. Here, we aimed to i) characterize the longer-term effects of Scl-Ab on bone in cynomolgus monkeys (cynos) and ovariectomized (OVX) rats and ii) test whether follow-up treatment with OPG-Fc would maintain the bone mass gains induced by Scl-Ab in OVX rats. In the cynos study, 3 to 5-year-old male cynos were treated for 6 months with weekly SC injections of vehicle (Veh), 3, 10, or...

The osteoclast-associated receptor (OSCAR), primarily described as a co-stimulatory regulator of osteoclast differentiation, represents a novel link between bone metabolism and vascular biology. Previously, we identified OSCAR on endothelial cells responding to the proatherogenic factor oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL). Additionally, OSCAR expression was increased in the aorta of atherogenic apoE-knock-out (apoE-KO) mice, where it was further induced by feeding a high-...

To understand differences in bone health between and within populations, it is crucial to characterise bone development during childhood and adolescence. Peak height velocity at age 16 and young adult height at age 23.5 years were recently reported in Gambian males accustomed to low calcium intake1. Our study aims to describe bone accrual after peak height velocity in the same population.We used peripheral quantitative computed tomography to m...

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, ...

One growth factor that potentially plays a role in fracture healing is midkine (Mdk). Mdk is expressed in chondrocytes during bone repair (Ohta et al. 1999) and has been shown to influence bone mass and mechanotransduction (Neunaber et al. 2010, Liedert et al. 2011). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of Mdk-deficiency on bone repair in a standardized mouse femur osteotomy model.Mdk-deficient and wildtype ...

Sarcopenia and osteoporosis are common in later life, often coexist, and increase the risk of adverse health outcomes such as disability, falls and fracture. Binkley and colleagues recently devised a score-based system for the diagnosis of ‘dysmobility syndrome’ in an attempt to combine adverse musculoskeletal phenotypes and indentify older individuals at particular risk. We applied these criteria to a larger cohort of participants from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study...

Background: Hypophosphatasia (HPP) results from inactivating mutation(s) in the gene for tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase (TNSALP). Substantial improvement has been reported in skeletal mineralization and physical function in patients (pts) with life-threatening perinatal and infantile HPP treated for 48 weaks with asfotase alfa, a bone-targeted recombinant human TNSALP.Objective: To evaluate long-term efficacy and tolerability of asfotase alfa i...

Introduction: Bone health in patients with sickle cell disease and thalassemia is impaired. These patients feature altered parameters of bone metabolism and bone mineral density.Aim and design: To investigate bone health in patients with hemolytic anemia we conducted a cross-sectional analysis in our Hematology Outpatient Clinic at the Children’s Hospital Essen. The largest subgroups within our cohort are patients with homozygous sickle cell (HBSS) ...

In rural Gambian prepubertal children with low calcium intakes (mean 300 mg/day) we reported positive effects, sustained for at least a year (y), on bone mineral content (BMC) after 12 months supplementation with calcium carbonate to international levels1,2. The group was followed up regularly until the end of height growth, and supplementation did not affect height growth in the girls3. Our aim was to determine whether the supplementation altered the tim...