Bone Abstracts

Leptin and adiponectin have an opposing relationship in circulation; leptin is higher and adiponectin lower in overweight/obese individuals, and vice versa. Studies showed that both leptin and adiponectin can be either beneficial or harmful to bone depending on the mode of action. The objective was to investigate the association of serum leptin:adiponectin ratio (L:A) with BMD of various skeletal sites and markers of bone turnover in overweight and obese postmenopausa...

The connection between osteoporosis and obesity is becoming a topic of increasing research. The adipocyte-secreted hormones, leptin and adiponectin, may be the mediators between adipose tissue and bone. The aim was to examine the changes in leptin and adiponectin with the weight and body composition (fat and lean mass) change during the 6-months weight loss program. Additionally, the relationship between two adipokines and BMD of various skeletal sites was also examined. Parti...

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal characterized by strong cumulative properties in the human and animals’ organism. Although cadmium accumulation in the bone tissue is lower than in soft tissues such as liver and kidney, the bone-accumulated metal, even at low concentrations, can damage the bone tissue directly. Polyphenols are compounds possessing hydroxyl groups capable of binding divalent metals, including toxic metals, preventing their absorption from the gastrointe...

Objectives: To evaluate bone health and its possible correlations to body composition parameters in young patients with galactose metabolic disorders, aiming to suggest appropriate lifestyle interventions.Methods: We studied 22 patients, aged 5–16 years with galactose metabolic disorders, detected by neonatal screening. Fourteen suffered from classic galactosemia and eight from other galactose metabolic disorders (i.e. epimerase or galactokinase def...

Objectives: To determine any relationship of serum concentrations of osteoprotegerin (OPG), sRANKL and sRANKL:OPG ratio with idiopathic hypercalciuria (IH) in children, as there is some evidence of increased bone resorption in these patients.Methods: In a prospective study, twenty four children of median age 6.5 years (range 2.3–16.4) with IH (five had urolithiasis and two nephrocalcinosis) were examined at the time of diagnosis and after 3 months o...

Objectives: In the modern society, all individuals are exposed throughout life to a variety of chemicals, which may contribute significantly to the human disease burden. Most of these chemicals are transferred to the fetus in-utero and to the infant via mother’s milk. Until recently, few studies have addressed effects of chemicals on the development of mineralized tissues following exposure during these early stages of life. In this experimental study, we analyse...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has recently emerged as a factor able to concurrently target age related diseases as neurodegenerative disease, osteoporosis and metabolic syndrome. However the role of BDNF in the frailty syndrome associated with aging has never been investigated. The deletion of central BDNF gene in mice results in increased bone mass and in vitro experiments show that BDNF has a positive effect on bone. BDNF expression is mediated by estroge...

Introduction: The fat-soluble and vitamin K2 homologe Menaquinone-7 (MK-7) is needed for post-translational modification of proteins essential in blood coagulation, and in metabolic pathways in various tissues like bone. Recent studies found an association between long-term anticoagulant treatment (OAC) and reduced bone quality due to reduction of active osteocalcin. OAC is often linked to an undesired soft-tissue calcification in both children and adults and may lead to incre...

Infantile spinal muscular atrophy X-linked 2 (SMAX2) is a rare form of spinal muscular atrophy manifesting in severe hypotonia, areflexia, arthrogryposis, facial weakness and cryptorchidism, as frequently accompanied by bone fractures.We present a boy patient with SMAX2 who presented typical symptoms from birth, as preceded by reduced fetal movements in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. In the first days of life the patient was found to have s...

Metastasis to bone is the leading cause of death for breast carcinoma, and much focus in the biology and therapy relays on epigenetic alterations. Since DNA-methyltransferase blockade counteracts tumour growth, we utilized 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (dAza) to clarify whether molecular events undergoing epigenetic control were critical for bone metastatization. Here, we studied Secreted-Protein Acidic and Rich in Cysteine (SPARC), matricellular glycoprotein associated with bo...