Tag: bone loss

Categories : Diseases, Syndromes and Conditions T-cellsTags :

New Study Reveals T-Cell Role in Periodontitis and Bone Loss

On By ModernMedia

There are mechanisms involved in diseases of bone loss, such as periodontitis that are still not well understood, but an unexpected behaviour of a type of T-cell may shed new light on the matter.

Looking at periodontal disease in mice, scientists found that regulatory T (Treg) cells start behaving unexpectedly. They lose their ability to regulate bone loss and begin to promote inflammation instead.

“That is important because, in many therapies analyzed in in-vivo models, researchers usually check if the number of regulatory T cells has increased. But they should check if these cells are indeed functioning,” said lead author Dr Carla Alvarez, a postdoctoral researcher at the Forsyth Institute.

In periodontal disease, bone loss occurs because the immune system responds disproportionately, destroying tissue through inflammation. The Treg cells normally suppress the immune system but lose the ability to do so during periodontal disease.

Understanding this falls into the field of osteoimmunology, which is about understanding the interaction of bone metabolism and the immune system. “This is an interesting mechanism highlighting how the bone loss is taking place in periodontal disease,” said Dr Alpdogan Kantarci, at Forsyth and co-author of the paper.

A potential treatment for periodontal disease would involve reactivating the Treg cell’s immunosuppression function, but this is a complex, nonlinear task complicated by the fact that periodontal disease is initiated by oral microbes.

“The relationship between immune response and bone is not so straightforward,” said Alvarez. “There are multiple components. You have to imagine a complex network of signaling and cells that participate.”
The researchers’ next step is to examine the process in humans.

Source:Medical Xpress

Journal information: Alvarez, C., Suliman, S., Almarhoumi, R. et al. Regulatory T cell phenotype and anti-osteoclastogenic function in experimental periodontitis. Sci Rep 10, 19018 (2020). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-76038-w

Categories : New Compounds and Treatments Skeletal SystemTags :

Osteoporosis Drug Enhances Natural Bone Formation

On By ModernMedia

A new osteoporosis drug, NaQuinate, that treats osteoporosis by enhancing its response to weight bearing, has completed its first human clinical trial. 

NaQuinate is a naphthoquinone carboxylic acid, and is found naturally as a Vitamin K metabolite. It has been shown in mouse models that NaQuinate responds synergistically to mechanical loading, building bone density. In a separate trial, the efficacy of NaQuinate is being evaluated against that of bisphosphonates without loading and anabolics with loading.

Haoma Medica’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Cenk Oguz, said: ”We are delighted that the first-in-human study has completed its last dosing. There were no significant safety or tolerability concerns up to the highest doses tested which underlines our expectation that NaQuinate is safe and well tolerated.”
Haoma Medica’s CEO,  Dr Steve Deacon, said:”Our pre-clinical research has revealed an exciting feature of NaQuinate where it appears to have the capacity to work in harmony with the body’s natural response to weight bearing exercise to synergistically enhance bone formation when and where required – now that would be a ‘smart’ drug. Together with the safety data from this first-in-human study, this supports the potential that NaQuinate treatment could provide a safe, novel and smart therapeutic approach to bone disorders like osteoporosis and better maintain healthy skeletal aging.”

Source: PR NewsWire

Categories : Diet and NutritionTags :

Meat-free Diets Increase Risk of Fracture

On By ModernMedia

Research conducted on one of the largest dietary and health studies has revealed that people eating vegan, and to a lesser extent, vegetarian and pescetarian, diets are at higher risk for fractures.

This is in line with earlier studies that had indicated that vegan diets had weaker bones, but it had been unclear if this translated to an increased fracture risk.

Participants eating a vegan diet had a more than doubled increase of hip fracture risk; those on vegetarian and pescatarian diets also had an increase in hip fracture risk of 25%. Vegans, but not vegetarians and pescetarians, were also at increased risk of other fractures.

The research was done using data from the EPIC-Oxford trial, which followed over 65 000 participants from 1993 onwards, and controlled for a number of variables such as age, gender and level of physical activity.

The presence of protein helps to absorb calcium, and vegans are unlikely to be getting enough calcium without supplementing their diet. It is notable that after the 1990s, plant-based milk substitutes began to be fortified, which may have affected the results. 

A vegan diet also resulted in other health benefits as well as risks. Compared to an omnivorous diet, a vegan diet conferred a 10% reduction in cancer rates, 20% reduction in heart disease but also increased stroke risk by 20%.

The article is available to read at BMC Medicine.

Source: New Scientist