Administration of low intensity vibration and a RANKL inhibitor, alone or in combination, reduces bone loss after spinal cord injury-induced immobilization in rats.

We previously reported an ability of low-intensity vibration (LIV) to improve selected biomarkers of bone turnover and gene expression and reduce osteoclastogenesis but lacking of evident bone accrual. In this study, we demonstrate that a prolonged course of LIV that initiated at 2 weeks post-injury and continued for 8 weeks can protect against bone loss after SCI in rats. LIV stimulates bone formation and improves osteoblast differentiation potential of bone marrow stromal stem cells while inhibiting osteoclast differentiation potential of marrow hematopoietic progenitors to reduce bone resorption.

Targeted-delivery of nanomedicine-enabled methylprednisolone to injured spinal cord promotes neuroprotection and functional recovery after acute spinal cord injury in rats.

To date, no therapy has been proven to be efficacious in fully restoring neurological functions after spinal cord injury (SCI). Systemic high-dose methylprednisolone (MP) improves neurological recovery after acute SCI in both animal and human. MP therapy remains controversial due to its modest effect on functional recovery and significant adverse effects.

Anti-Siglec-15 Antibody Prevents Marked Bone Loss after Acute Spinal Cord Injury-Induced Immobilization in Rats.

Rapid and extensive sublesional bone loss after spinal cord injury (SCI) is a difficult medical problem that has been refractory to available interventions except the antiresorptive agent denosumab (DMAB). While DMAB has shown some efficacy in inhibiting bone loss, its concurrent inhibition of bone formation limits its use. Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin (Siglec)-15 is expressed on the cell surface of mature osteoclasts.

[Responses of soil microbial carbon use efficiency to short-term nitrogen addition in forest].

As an important parameter regulating soil carbon mineralization, microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) is essential for the understanding of carbon (C) cycle in terrestrial ecosystems. Three nitrogen supplemental levels, including control (0 kg N·hm·a), low nitrogen (40 kg N·hm·a), and high nitrogen (80 kg N·hm·a), were set up in a forest in the Daiyun Mountain. The basic physical and chemical properties, organic carbon fractions, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities of the soil surface layer (0-10 cm) were measured.

Administration of High-Dose Methylprednisolone Worsens Bone Loss after Acute Spinal Cord Injury in Rats.

The administration of high-dose methylprednisolone (MP) for 24-48 h after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) has been shown to improve functional recovery. The known adverse effects of MP on skeletal muscle and the immune system, though, have raised clinically relevant safety concerns. However, the effect of MP administration on SCI-induced bone loss has not been evaluated to date.

Electrical stimulation of hindlimb skeletal muscle has beneficial effects on sublesional bone in a rat model of spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in marked atrophy of sublesional skeletal muscle and substantial loss of bone. In this study, the effects of prolonged electrical stimulation (ES) and/or testosterone enanthate (TE) on muscle mass and bone formation in a rat model of SCI were tested. Compared to sham-transected animals, a significant reduction of the mass of soleus, plantaris and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles was observed in animals 6 weeks post-SCI.

Role of soluble and exchangeable nitrogen pools in N cycling and the impact of nitrogen added in forest soil.

Nitrogen (N) cycle in forest soils is altered by water, salt, or acid solutions, and its internal transfers to and from each existing inorganic pools are not known comprehensively. To evaluate the soluble and exchangeable N pools, bulk soil (B soil), water-extracted soil (W soil), and the 0.5 mol L KSO-treated soil (K soil) were incubated for up to 48 days to comprehend the dynamics of inorganic (NH and NO) and soluble organic N (SON) in water-soluble, exchangeable, 2.

Different effects of N-flow and air-limited pyrolysis on bamboo-derived biochars' nitrogen and phosphorus release and sorption characteristics.

Advantages for biochars used in soil improvement have been proposed to their nutrients release and sorption characteristics which strongly depend on their production conditions. N-flow and air-limited pyrolysis are two different widely-applied oxygen-limited pyrolysis methods for producing biochars, however, their different effects on nutrients release and sorption characteristics of biochars remains unknown. In this study, bamboo derived biochars pyrolyzed in N-flow (BC-N) and air-limited environments (BC-Air) at the temperature of 150~750 °C were used to compare the release and sorption of nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients.

Rapid bone loss occurs as early as 2 days after complete spinal cord transection in young adult rats.

Study Design: Animal study.

Objective: This study examined how soon after spinal cord injury (SCI) bone loss occurs, and investigated the underlying molecular mechanism.

Methods: Eight-week-old male Wistar rats underwent complete transection of the thoracic spinal cord at T3-4 or sham operation (n = 10-12 per group).

Sclerostin Antibody Reverses the Severe Sublesional Bone Loss in Rats After Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.

To date, no efficacious therapy exists that will prevent or treat the severe osteoporosis in individuals with neurologically motor-complete spinal cord injury (SCI). Recent preclinical studies have demonstrated that sclerostin antibody (Scl-Ab) can prevent sublesional bone loss after acute SCI in rats. However, it remains unknown whether sclerostin inhibition reverses substantial bone loss in the vast majority of the SCI population who have been injured for several years.

Myostatin inhibits osteoblastic differentiation by suppressing osteocyte-derived exosomal microRNA-218: A novel mechanism in muscle-bone communication.

Muscle and bone are closely associated in both anatomy and function, but the mechanisms that coordinate their synergistic action remain poorly defined. Myostatin, a myokine secreted by muscles, has been shown to inhibit muscle growth, and the disruption of the myostatin gene has been reported to cause muscle hypertrophy and increase bone mass. Extracellular vesicle-exosomes that carry microRNA (miRNA), mRNA, and proteins are known to perform an important role in cell-cell communication.

[Effects of L-methionine on nitrification and N2O emission in subtropical forest soil].

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of L-methionine on nitrification and nitrous oxide emission in a red soil under laboratory incubation experiments. A subtropical broad-leaved forest soil sample was collected from Wanmulin natural reserve in Fujian Province, Southeast China. Five treatments were carried out with three replications, i.

A Soluble Activin Receptor IIB Fails to Prevent Muscle Atrophy in a Mouse Model of Spinal Cord Injury.

Myostatin (MST) is a potent regulator of muscle growth and size. Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in marked atrophy of muscle below the level of injury. Currently, there is no effective pharmaceutical treatment available to prevent sublesional muscle atrophy post-SCI.

Sclerostin antibody preserves the morphology and structure of osteocytes and blocks the severe skeletal deterioration after motor-complete spinal cord injury in rats.

Unloading, neural lesions, and hormonal disorders after acute motor-complete spinal cord injury (SCI) cause one of the most severe forms of bone loss, a condition that has been refractory to available interventions tested to date. Thus, these features related to acute SCI provide a unique opportunity to study complex bone problems, potential efficacious interventions, and mechanisms of action that are associated with these dramatic pathological changes. This study was designed to explore the therapeutic potential of sclerostin antibody (Scl-Ab) in a rat model of bone loss after motor-complete SCI, and to investigate mechanisms underlying bone loss and Scl-Ab action.

Anabolic steroids reduce spinal cord injury-related bone loss in rats associated with increased Wnt signaling.

Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes severe bone loss. At present, there is no practical treatment to delay or prevent bone loss in individuals with motor-complete SCI. Hypogonadism is common in men after SCI and may exacerbate bone loss.

The central nervous system (CNS)-independent anti-bone-resorptive activity of muscle contraction and the underlying molecular and cellular signatures.

Background: Mechanisms by which muscle regulates bone are poorly understood.

Results: Electrically stimulated muscle contraction reversed elevations in bone resorption and increased Wnt signaling in bone-derived cells after spinal cord transection.

Conclusion: Muscle contraction reduced resorption of unloaded bone independently of the CNS, through mechanical effects and, potentially, nonmechanical signals (e.

Vitamin C prevents hypogonadal bone loss.

Epidemiologic studies correlate low vitamin C intake with bone loss. The genetic deletion of enzymes involved in de novo vitamin C synthesis in mice, likewise, causes severe osteoporosis. However, very few studies have evaluated a protective role of this dietary supplement on the skeleton.

Regulated production of the pituitary hormone oxytocin from murine and human osteoblasts.

Oxytocin (OT) is a primitive neurohypophyseal hormone that plays a primary and indispensible role in mammalian lactation. We have shown recently that OT also regulates bone remodeling, mainly bone formation, with remarkable sensitivity. We now show that OT, apart from its neurohypophyseal origin, is produced in abundance by both human and murine osteoblasts.

Intravenous ibandronate acutely reduces bone hyperresorption in chronic critical illness.

Objective: Patients who remain critically ill for prolonged periods and require tracheotomy, defined as chronic critical illness (CCI), display elevated levels of bone resorption. The measurement of bone turnover markers reveals that osteoclastic bone resorption is not only enhanced but also uncoupled from osteoblastic bone formation. We examine the effect of ibandronate on bone turnover in patients with CCI.

Clinical, cellular and molecular phenotypes of aging bone.

Our understanding of gerontological bone loss and osteoporosis has grown substantially in the recent past. Clinical as well as basic and translational studies have been pivotal in providing us with the pathophysiology of this condition. They have also informed us of the various cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying age related bone loss.

ACTH protects against glucocorticoid-induced osteonecrosis of bone.

We report that adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) protects against osteonecrosis of the femoral head induced by depot methylprednisolone acetate (depomedrol). This therapeutic response likely arises from enhanced osteoblastic support and the stimulation of VEGF by ACTH; the latter is largely responsible for maintaining the fine vascular network that surrounds highly remodeling bone. We suggest examining the efficacy of ACTH in preventing human osteonecrosis, a devastating complication of glucocorticoid therapy.

Nandrolone slows hindlimb bone loss in a rat model of bone loss due to denervation.

Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid that has been demonstrated to reduce the loss of bone and muscle from hindlimb unweighting and to slow muscle atrophy after nerve transection. To determine whether nandrolone has the ability to protect bone against loss due to disuse after denervation, male rats underwent sciatic nerve transaction, followed 28 days later by treatment with nandrolone or vehicle for 28 days. Bone mineral density (BMD) was determined 28 days later or 56 days after nerve transection.

Further evidence for direct pro-resorptive actions of FSH.

We confirm that FSH stimulates osteoclast formation, function and survival to enhance bone resorption. It does so via the activation of a pertussis toxin-sensitive G(i)-coupled FSH receptor that we and others have identified on murine and human osteoclast precursors and mature osteoclasts. FSH additionally enhances the production of several osteoclastogenic cytokines, importantly TNFalpha, likely within the bone marrow microenvironment, to augment its pro-resorptive action.