Bone Abstracts

Objective: Muscular dystrophy is characterized by lower skeletal muscle quality, lower muscle strength and physical performance. The aim of the study was to assess regional muscle density and its correlation with regional muscle area in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) subjects and able bodied controls.Method: Skeletal muscle pQCT (peripheral quantitative computed tomography) scans at the non-dominant forearm were performed in patients with muscle dystr...

Objective: Linear growth is achieved by enchondral ossification in epiphyseal growth plates (GP) of long bones. These highly organized cartilaginous tissues contain chondrocytes of all differentiational stages classified in 3–5 specific zones. Due to their discrete characteristics, distinct analysis of each zone is essential in basic GP research. While the efficiency of zonal separation is therefore highly influencing on study results, comparative data on commonly used me...

Introduction: Effective screening for vitamin D (Vit-D) insufficiency is desirable. Pigmentation of unexposed (constitutive) skin and exposed (facultative) skin can be measured with skin colourimetry to assess dermal capability in synthesizing Vit-D and degree of sunlight exposure respectively. This study aimed at evaluating whether skin colourimetry could be used to screen Vit-D insufficiency among adolescents.Methods: 240 healthy adolescents (mean age=...

Objectives: To evaluate musculoskeletal trajectories in children with newly diagnosed Crohn’s disease (CD), and to determine whether children treated with anti-tumour necrosis factor-alpha antibody (anti-TNF, TREATED vs NAÏVE) had persistent deficits at two years.Methods: This was a single-centre prospective, observational inception cohort study. Children with CD underwent assessments within 6.5±9.5 days from diagnosis and annually for two...

Inflammatory stimuli can lead to bone loss by mechanisms that are not well understood. We recently showed that skin inflammation induces bone loss in mice and humans. In psoriasis, one of the prototypic IL-17A-mediated inflammatory human skin diseases, low bone formation and bone loss correlates with increased serum IL-17A levels. Similarly, in two mouse models with chronic IL-17A-mediated skin inflammation, K14-IL17Aind and JunB&...

Vertebral fractures (VF) defined by morphometric analysis of spine radiographs are the most common complication of osteoporosis. Those that come to medical attention, with symptoms such as back pain and kyphosis are termed clinical vertebral fractures (CVF) and account for significant morbidity and mortality. Although much progress was made in identifying loci for bone mineral density, the genetic determinants of CVF remain unclear. Here we present the initial results from a g...

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer type in older men and often metastasizes to bone in advanced stages. Wnt proteins are implicated in carcinogenesis and especially WNT5A has been discussed to influence the clinical outcome of various cancer types, including PCa. In addition, WNT5A stimulates osteogenic differentiation and may thus not only be involved in PCa development, but also in the formation of subsequent skeletal metastasis. Here, we determined the role of ...

Patients with chronic inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis are at high risk for developing osteoporosis. Psoriatic arthritis patients exhibit bone loss caused by increased bone resorption through activation of osteoclasts. However, it is not clear whether psoriasis can lead to bone loss in the absence of arthritis. Using mouse models with skin inflammation as well as psoriasis patient samples, we show that increased circulating IL-17A from the inflamed skin triggers bone lo...

Objective: Nephropathic cystinosis is an orphan autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease characterized by a deficiency of cystinosin, a cysteine transporter protein, encoded by CTNS. As a consequence of the disease cystine crystals accumulate leading to tissue damage, primarily in kidney and cornea. With improved medical care, new challenges like skeletal complications are a matter of concern. Only few data are available dealing with bone development. The aim of our study...

Background: Elevated plasma homocysteine levels are a risk factor for osteoporotic fractures. Supplementation with vitamin B12/folic acid lowers homocysteine levels. This study aimed to determine whether vitamin B12/folic acid supplementation reduces osteoporotic fracture incidence in hyperhomocysteinemic elderly.Methods: B-PROOF is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial including 2 919 participants aged ≧65 years with elevated homocyste...