Bone Abstracts

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...

Introduction: Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) is currently the best technique available to evaluate bone mass, enabling the diagnosis of osteoporosis, the prediction of fracture risk and monitoring.Clinical good practices consider as preferred measuring sites the lumbar (L1–L4) and proximal femur (neck and total). The vertebral morphometry is a quantitative method for the diagnosis of vertebral fractures based on measuring vertebral heights.<p...

Objectives: Postural balance and gait speed are risk factors for falls and hip fractures independent of bone mineral density (BMD). The standard risk assessment tool, FRAX, does however not include any estimate of fall risk. Identifying high-risk individuals correctly is be of great clinical importance why further improvement of FRAX would be clinically valuable. The primary aim of this study was to see if one-leg standing time, the maximum number of steps on a line or gait sp...

Objective: Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the most commonly used method for evaluating bone mineral density (BMD) in children and adolescents. An innovative echographic approach for osteoporosis diagnosis, directly applicable on both femoral neck and lumbar spine, has been recently introduced and clinically validated through single-center and multicenter studies in a adult population. This developed approach has been subsequently defined as Radiofrequency Echographi...

Background: Patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) are treated with L-thyroxine (L-T4) in relatively hight doses to suppress endogenous TSH levels. Very long-term effect of thyroid hormones supplementation on bone are controversial.Objetive: To study the possible negative effects on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone markers in DTC patients followed in our center.Methods: A 46 po...

Acute phase reaction (APR) is the most frequent side effect following i.v. nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates (N-BPs) infusion. A recent observation in osteoporotic women treated with N-BPs evidenced a negative association between 25(OH)D levels and APR, likely due to the immuno-modulatory effects of vitamin D on γδTcells. However, this association remains to be demonstrated in patients with Paget’s disease of bone (PDB). Moreover whether vitamin D supplementat...

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...

Background: Progressive osseous heteroplasia (POH) (OMIM 166350) is a rare autosomal dominant condition, characterized by heterotopic ossification of the skin, subcutaneous fat and deep connective tissue. This condition is distinct from Albright’s hereditary osteodystrophy or Mccune–Albright syndrome (AHO) (OMIM 103580) and fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) (OMIM 135100).Presenting problem: We present an unu...