Osteosarcopenia: Prevalence and 10-Year Fracture and Mortality Risk - A Longitudinal, Population-Based Study of 75-Year-Old Women.

Osteosarcopenia is the coexistence of low bone mass and sarcopenia. In older women, its prevalence is not well described, and it is unknown if sarcopenia is additive to low bone mass for fracture and mortality risk. The study investigated prevalence of osteosarcopenia and if osteosarcopenia is associated with higher fracture and mortality risk than low bone mass alone in older community-dwelling women.

Differential expression of the inflammatory ciita gene may be accompanied by altered bone properties in intact sex steroid-deficient female rats.

Objective: The class II transactivator (CIITA), encoded by the CIITA gene, controls expression of immune response regulators, which affect bone homeostasis. Previously, we investigated a functional CIITA polymorphism in elderly women. Women carrying the allele associated with lower CIITA levels displayed higher bone mineral density (BMD), but also higher bone loss.

Bone mineral density loci specific to the skull portray potential pleiotropic effects on craniosynostosis.

Skull bone mineral density (SK-BMD) provides a suitable trait for the discovery of key genes in bone biology, particularly to intramembranous ossification, not captured at other skeletal sites. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis (n ~ 43,800) of SK-BMD, identifying 59 loci, collectively explaining 12.5% of the trait variance.

Pro-Inflammatory Proteins Associated with Frailty and Its Progression-A Longitudinal Study in Community-Dwelling Women.

The complex pathophysiology underlying biological aging creates challenges for identifying biomarkers associated with frailty. This longitudinal, nontargeted proteomics study aimed to identify proteins associated with frailty, particularly the change from nonfrail to frail. The population-based Osteoporosis Prospective Risk Assessment cohort includes women all of whom are 75 years old at inclusion (n = 1044) and reassessed at 80 years (n = 715) and 85 years (n = 382).

Bone mass in Saudi women aged 20-40 years: the association with obesity and vitamin D deficiency.

Unlabelled: This study describes that low bone density is prevalent in premenopausal Saudi women, especially women of normal weight and vitamin D deficiency. Although BMD is higher in obese young women, this may not be beneficial later in life in conjunction with persistent vitamin D deficiency.

Introduction: Not attaining peak bone mass is one crucial factor contributing to the risk of developing osteoporosis and suffering fractures in later life.

Bone Turnover Marker Profiling and Fracture Risk in Older Women: Fracture Risk from Age 75 to 90.

Purpose: A major challenge in osteoporosis is to identify individuals at high fracture risk. We investigated six bone turnover markers (BTMs) to determine association with specific fracture types; the time-frame for risk prediction and whether these are influenced by age at assessment.

Methods: Population-based OPRA cohort (n = 1044) was assessed at ages 75, 80, 85 and fractures documented for up to 15 years.

Bone health as a co-morbidity of chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease and osteoporosis commonly co-exist in aged patients. Chronic kidney disease affects bone health because of its effect on mineral metabolism in the syndrome, Chronic Kidney Disease Mineral and Bone Disorder, resulting in an increased risk of fractures. Hip fracture risk may be as much as four-fold higher in the worst affected.

A "snap-shot" visual estimation of health and objectively measured frailty: capturing general health in aging older women.

Background: In clinic, a subjective visual estimation of a patient's general health often guides interventions, yet little is known of how this assessment relates to objectively measured frailty.

Aims: To characterize the relationship between these two assessments and explore the implication of discordance.

Methods: The study was performed in the OPRA cohort of 75-year old community-dwelling women (n = 1044).

Impaired selective renal filtration captured by eGFR/eGFR ratio is associated with mortality in a population based cohort of older women.

Deranged renal filtration of mid-sized (5-30 kDa) compared to smaller molecules (< 0.9 kDa) results in increased plasma levels of cystatin C (cysC) compared to creatinine resulting in a low eGFR/eGFR ratio. A ratio below 0.

Bone Phenotyping Approaches in Human, Mice and Zebrafish - Expert Overview of the EU Cost Action GEMSTONE ("GEnomics of MusculoSkeletal traits TranslatiOnal NEtwork").

A synoptic overview of scientific methods applied in bone and associated research fields across species has yet to be published. Experts from the EU Cost Action GEMSTONE ("GEnomics of MusculoSkeletal Traits translational Network") Working Group 2 present an overview of the routine techniques as well as clinical and research approaches employed to characterize bone phenotypes in humans and selected animal models (mice and zebrafish) of health and disease. The goal is consolidation of knowledge and a map for future research.

Severity of Idiopathic Scoliosis Is Associated with Differential Methylation: An Epigenome-Wide Association Study of Monozygotic Twins with Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Epigenetic mechanisms may contribute to idiopathic scoliosis (IS). We identified 8 monozygotic twin pairs with IS, 6 discordant (Cobb angle difference > 10°) and 2 concordant (Cobb angle difference ≤ 2°). Genome-wide methylation in blood was measured with the Infinium HumanMethylation EPIC Beadchip.

Knee pain in young adult women- associations with muscle strength, body composition and physical activity.

Background: Knee pain is studied mostly in older age groups, although in young adults it may be an indicator of future impaired musculoskeletal health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal association between knee pain and thigh muscle strength in young adult women and to explore the associations between muscle strength, body composition, physical activity and knee pain.

Methods: The PEAK-25 cohort consists of women aged 25 at baseline (N=1064).

Closing the Osteoporosis Care Gap.

Purpose Of Review: This review outlines the scope of the problem in osteoporosis care and secondary fracture prevention and describes fracture prevention strategies, with a focus on the frail elderly.

Recent Findings: Despite heightened awareness among patients and clinicians alike and the availability of efficacious anti-osteoporosis medications, osteoporosis is still underdiagnosed and undertreated. However, the introduction of systematic risk assessment and secondary fracture prevention programmes has gained momentum, and evidence of success is accumulating.

Patient-related outcome, fracture displacement and bone mineral density following distal radius fracture in young and older men.

Background: Distal radius fractures can adversely affect wrist function; for men with this fracture, the role played by fracture severity, age and osteoporosis on fracture outcome has not been sufficiently studied.

Objective: To describe patient-reported outcome and the association with bone integrity, fracture severity and future fracture risk among young and older men with distal radius fracture.

Methods: This prospective study includes 133 men with acute distal radius fracture, mean age 54 (range 21-88), who were followed for 12 months.

Changes in bone mass associated with obesity and weight loss in humans: Applicability of animal models.

The implications of obesity and weight loss for human bone health are not well understood. Although the bone changes associated with weight loss are similar in humans and rodents, that is not the case for obesity. In humans, obesity is generally associated with increased bone mass, an outcome which is exacerbated by advanced age and menopause.

High Luteinizing Hormone and Lower Levels of Sex Hormones in Younger Men With Distal Radius Fracture.

This study investigates the sex steroid hormone profile in younger men with distal radius fracture (DRF) to elucidate if this could explain the low bone density and osteoporosis previously observed. In a case-control study, 73 men with DRF (mean age 38 ± 9 years; range, 20-51) was compared with 194 age-matched, population controls. Performed assays: total testosterone (TT), calculated free testosterone (cFT), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and total estradiol (E2).

Epigenome-wide cross-tissue correlation of human bone and blood DNA methylation - can blood be used as a surrogate for bone?

Difficulty in obtaining tissue is an obstacle to studying epigenetics to understand gene-environment interactions, and their role in disease pathogenesis. Blood is an obvious alternative and in this proof of principle study, our aim was to systematically investigate whether blood is a viable surrogate for bone. We measured epigenome-wide DNA methylation at 850 K CpG sites in matched trabecular bone and peripheral blood collected from the same patients at the same time-point (n = 12 women; 66-85y), to investigate the between-tissue correspondence.

Longitudinal Changes in Kidney Function Estimated from Cystatin C and Its Association with Mortality in Elderly Women.

Background/aims: Prospective data on age-related changes in kidney function are required, especially since the current Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) definition has been suggested to classify a large number of elderly people with CKD.

Objective: This study, a complement to our previous Cr-based study in the same cohort, is aimed at evaluating cystatin C (cysC)-based changes in kidney function during aging in older women and analyzing the association between CKD and mortality through 10 years of follow-up.

Methods: cysC was available in 981 women from the Osteoporosis Prospective Risk Assessment (OPRA) cohort, all aged 75 years on entry.

Inner histopathologic changes and disproportionate zone volumes in foetal growth plates following gestational hypoglycaemia in rats.

Maternal hypoglycaemia throughout gestation until gestation day (GD)20 delays foetal growth and skeletal development. While partially prevented by return to normoglycaemia after completed organogenesis (GD17), underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we investigated the pathogenesis of these changes and significance of maternal hypoglycaemia extending beyond organogenesis in non-diabetic rats.

Disability and Pain are the Best Predictors of Sick Leave After a Distal Radius Fracture in Men.

Purpose Distal radius fracture often compromises working ability, but clinical implications are less studied in men due to its lower incidence. This study therefore describes sick leave in men with distal radius fracture, specifically exploring the impact of patient- and fracture-related factors. Methods Professionally active men aged 20-65 with distal radius fracture were followed prospectively for 1-year (n = 88).

Frailty and prediction of recurrent falls over 10 years in a community cohort of 75-year-old women.

Background: Frailty captures the age-related declines in health leading to increased vulnerability, including falls which are commonplace in older women. The relationship between frailty and falls is complex, with one leading to the other in a vicious cycle.

Aims: This study addresses the gap in understanding how patterns of frailty and falls propensity interact, particularly in those who have not yet entered the falls-frailty cycle.