Bone Abstracts

Metatropic dysplasia (MD) was first described by Maroteaux et al. in 1966. Its name was derived from the Greek word metatropos which means ‘changing pattern’ because individuals with this diagnosis begin life with a short-limbed dysplasia and a long trunk with narrow chest, and over time their dysplasia becomes short-trunked due to progressive kyphoscoliosis1. It is now recognized that MD is caused by gain-of-function mutations in transie...

Background: Low vitamin D concentrations among children and adolescents at northern latitudes are frequently observed. Also, inverse associations between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and PTH concentrations have been found in children of different ages. More studies on the link between vitamin D status and childhood bone health are needed.Objective: To evaluate the status of serum 25(OH)D in autumn and the association between 25(OH)D concentrations and b...

The regions of the proximal femur that are at greater risk of structural failure during a fall are those with less adaptive protection promoted by mechanical loading of the activities of daily living. Considering the associations between bone geometry of the proximal femur with bone fracture risk, we intended to examine how geometrical characteristics of the proximal femur (FNL, femoral neck length; FNW, femoral neck width; NSA, neck shaft angle) moderate the effect of mechani...

Although trials have shown that exercise has positive effects on bone mineral density (BMD), not all exercise modalities are osteogenic and the majority of exercise trials have been conducted in older women. The aim of this study was to systematically review trials examining the effect of weight-bearing and resistance-based exercise modalities on the BMD of hip and lumbar spine of middle-aged and older men. Eight electronic databases were searched in August 2012. Only randomis...

Thyrotoxicosis results in osteoporosis, and thyroid hormone (T3) stimulates osteoclastic bone resorption by unknown mechanisms. We previously demonstrated that knockout mice lacking thyroid hormone receptor α (TRα0/0) are euthyroid but have high bone mass, whereas mice lacking TRβ (TRβ−/−) are thyrotoxic and osteoporotic. Tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAcP) staining revealed osteoclast numbers were reduced by 13% (<...

Osteosarcoma is a heterogeneous tumor from the mesenchymal lineage, and is the most common form of primary bone cancer. Normally, lesions contain undifferentiated cancer stem cells (CSCs) that support uncontrolled growth/proliferation, and pre-osteoblasts that form excessive amounts of immature bone. CSCs are characterized by high expression of the transcriptional regulators Sox2 and yes-associated protein (YAP) that are essential for tumorigenicity. YAP is restrained by the H...

Background: Height is required for interpretation of bone mineral density in children and is often challenging in non-weight bearing children. Monitoring of linear growth in non-weight bearing children as part of assessment of bone health is also important.Objective: To investigate the feasibility of a novel method of using DXA images to measure height (Ht), sitting height (SH) and leg length (LL).Methods: Ht and SH were measured o...

Heritability of bone mineral density (BMD) varies at skeletal sites, possibly reflecting different relative contributions of environmental and genetic influences. To quantify shared genetic influences across different sites, we estimated the genetic correlation of BMD at the upper limb (UL), lower limb (LL) and skull (S) obtained from whole body DXA scans, using bivariate genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA). The study (n=9395) combined data from the Avon Longitu...

Introduction: Activated protein C (APC) plays an important role in the cutaneous healing of chronic wounds arising from orthopaedic surgery and has cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory properties which may also assist bone repair. The aim of this study was to examine whether APC could directly influence osteoblasts and increase bone formation in a rodent model.Methods: Proliferation of MG-63 osteoblast-like cells was quantified by MTT assay and direct co...

Osteocytes make up >90% of bone cells, are embedded in mineralised matrix where they form a communication network. Osteocytes differentiate from osteoblasts, and are mechano-sensitive. They are very difficult to isolate with a dependence on cell lines for in vitro studies of osteocyte biology. Therefore new methods to study these cells are essential. Recent publications indicate that osteoblasts maintained in in vitro 3D collagen gels may differentiate to...