Bone Abstracts

Analysis of osteocyte function often uses promoter elements of osteocyte-specific genes i.e. SOST or Dentin-matrix-protein 1 (Dmp1) to overexpress genes or the Cre-recombinase for conditional deletion studies. However, evidence suggests that these promoters may not be osteocyte-specific, which would be critical for subsequent data interpretation. To investigate the selectivity of supposedly osteocyte-specific in vivo models, we crossed the 8kb-Dmp1-Cre mice (i) with A...

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It is well established that estrogen, mainly via estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), has positive effects on bone, but estrogen is not considered as a treatment option against osteoporosis due to negative side-effects in other tissues. ERα is widely subjected to posttranslational modifications (PTMs), which can affect cellular responses to estrogen in a tissue specific manner by influencing the function of ERα and its interactions with other proteins. The in vivo...

Aims: To review changes in the advice regarding vitamin D deficiency in the UK and compare these with other national guidance.Methods: All Vitamin D guidance in the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 2003 guide (Medicines for Children) and in the eight editions since the British National Formulary for Children (BNFc) was first published in 2005 was reviewed.Results: Dosage and indications of prevalence are shown in the T...

Activin is a known physiologic regulator of bone metabolism. Ovariectomy-induced osteopenia has been shown to be attenuated by injection of the activin type IIA decoy receptor (ActRIIA-Fc). However, immobilization-induced osteopenia is driven by different pathways than ovariectomy-induced osteopenia, and the role of activin in immobilization-induced osteopenia has not yet been elucidated.The purpose of the study was to investigate the possible attenuatio...

Research design and methods: A characterisation of 225 European (Russian) osteoporotic postmenopausal women, treated for 2 years with amino-bisphosphonate zoledronic acid (zol), with respect to the adenosine/cytosine (A/C) rs2297480 farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FDPS) gene polymorphism, was carried out by PCR-based enzymatic digestion and quantitative PCR allelic discrimination on genomic DNA extracted from blood leukocytes. The association between these polymorphism genoty...

Introduction: Mortality after hip fracture is increased. However, only a few studies have explored for predictors beyond gender and age. Thus our aim was to study risk factors associated with increased mortality in hip fracture patients.Methods: Hip fracture patients (>50 years) admitted to a county hospital in 2004–2005 were consecutively invited for assessment at the hospital osteoporosis centre. A broad spectre of data was collected. Standard...

Objective: Biochemical assessment of teenage patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).Methods: Blood sampling from 120 patients with AIS aged 12–17 years. The patients all had significant scoliosis and blood samples were taken a few days or weeks before they underwent scoliosis surgery. Serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OHD), calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were measured. Patients with a 25-OHD level be...

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Children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) still suffer from frequent fractures, despite bisphosphonate treatment. Thus new therapeutic approaches are needed. Sclerostin is a protein that is thought to inhibit bone formation. Treatment with sclerostin antibodies (SclAB) increases bone mass in animal models and in clinical trials and may be a rational therapy for OI as well.Transgenic (TgOI) Col1a1Jrt/+ mice were gene...