Author Interviews, Bone Density, NEJM, Orthopedics / 21.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof Ian Reid MD Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: Bisphosphonates prevent fractures in patients with osteoporosis, but their efficacy in women with osteopenia is unknown. Most fractures in postmenopausal women occur in osteopenic patients, so therapies with efficacy in osteopenia are needed. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mineral Metabolism, Vitamin D / 09.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "MaxMedica D-vitamin" by Midsona Sverige AB is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr Mark J Bolland PhD Bone and Joint Research Group Department of Medicine University of Auckland New Zealand MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Vitamin D supplements have long been recommended for older people to treat or prevent osteoporosis. Early evidence suggested vitamin D supplements might have benefits for musculoskeletal health, but more recent systematic reviews have reported no effect of vitamin D supplementation on fractures, falls or bone mineral density. Some authors have suggested that inadequate vitamin D doses might explain these null results. (more…)
Author Interviews, Bone Density, Geriatrics, Nutrition / 06.04.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “bought a passive-aggressive amount of milk” by Paul Downey is licensed under CC BY 2.0Shivani Sahni, PhD Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Director, Nutrition Program Associate Scientist, Musculoskeletal Research Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston  MA  02131-1097 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous studies have shown that higher milk intake is associated with higher bone mineral density. In one of our previous studies, we reported that higher dairy food intake was protective against bone loss especially among older adults who used vitamin D supplements. Older adults are at high risk of vitamin D deficiency because recommended intakes are difficult to achieve without fortified foods (such as dairy) or supplements. Vitamin D stimulates calcium absorption, which is beneficial for building bones. However, it is unclear if the effect of vitamin D on calcium absorption is substantial enough to translate into beneficial effects on bone. Therefore, the current study determined the association of dairy food intake with bone health. We further examined whether these associations would be modified by vitamin D status. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Lancet, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Vitamin D / 07.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Audry H. Garcia PhD Scientist Department of Epidemiology Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam Rotterdam, the Netherlands  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Fetal bone mineralisation requires an adequate transfer of calcium to the fetus by the end of the pregnancy. Considering that vitamin D is required to maintain normal blood concentrations of calcium, adequate 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations in pregnant women seem to be crucial for bone development of the offspring. Maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy has been associated with abnormal early skeletal growth in offspring and might be a risk factor for decreased bone mass in later life. Several studies have linked vitamin D deficiency in fetal life to congenital rickets, craniotabes, wide skull sutures and osteomalacia. However, the evidence of long-lasting effects of maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy on offspring’s skeletal development is scarce and inconsistent, and has led to contradictory recommendations on vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, JCEM, Kidney Disease, Mineral Metabolism / 03.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jonas Esche Dipl.-Mol. Biomed University of Bonn Institute of Nutritional and Food Sciences DONALD Study MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Modern western diets increase diet-dependent acid load and net acid excretion which are suggested to have adverse long-term effects on bone. Urinary potential renal acid load (uPRAL) is an established parameter to assess nutritional acid load. Urinary citrate, on the other hand, integrates nutritional and also systemic influences on acid-base homeostasis with high citrate indicating prevailing alkalization. Against this background urinary citrate excretion was used as a new index of acid-base status and its relationship with bone strength and long-term fracture risk was examined. (more…)
Author Interviews, Columbia, NEJM, Orthopedics, Osteoporosis / 21.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Felicia Cosman, M.D. Medical Director of the Clinical Research Center Helen Hayes Hospital Professor of Medicine Columbia University College of Physician and Surgeons New York Editor-in-Chief, Osteoporosis International MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Amgen and UCB presented detailed data from the Phase 3 FRAME study in an oral session at ASBMR 2016, and the data were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Additionally, the FRAME abstract has been awarded the 2016 ASBMR Most Outstanding Clinical Abstract Award. The FRAME data show significant reductions in both new vertebral and clinical fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Patients receiving a monthly subcutaneous 210 mg dose of romosozumab experienced a statistically significant 73 percent reduction in the relative risk of a vertebral (spine) fracture through 12 months, the co-primary endpoint, compared to those receiving placebo (fracture incidence 0.5 percent vs. 1.8 percent, respectively [p<0.001]). By six months, new vertebral fractures occurred in 14 romosozumab and 26 placebo patients; between six to 12 months, fractures occurred in two versus 33 additional patients in each group, respectively. Patients receiving romosozumab experienced a statistically significant 36 percent reduction in the relative risk of a clinical fracture, a secondary endpoint, through 12 months compared to those receiving placebo (fracture incidence 1.6 percent vs. 2.5 percent, respectively [p=0.008]). In patients who received romosozumab in year one, fracture risk reduction continued through month 24 after both groups transitioned to denosumab treatment through the second year of the study: there was a statistically significant 75 percent reduction in the risk of vertebral fracture at month 24 (the other co-primary endpoint) in patients who received romosozumab followed by denosumab vs. placebo followed by denosumab (fracture incidence 0.6 percent vs. 2.5 percent, respectively [p<0.001]). Clinical fractures encompass all symptomatic fractures (both non-vertebral and painful vertebral fractures; all clinical fractures assessed in the FRAME study were symptomatic fragility fractures. A 33 percent reduction in relative risk of clinical fracture was observed through 24 months after patients transitioned from romosozumab to denosumab compared to patients transitioning from placebo to denosumab (nominal p=0.002, adjusted p=0.096). (more…)
Author Interviews, Columbia, Depression, Nature, Orthopedics, Pharmacology / 09.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Patricia Ducy, PhD Associate Professor Department of Pathology & Cell Biology Columbia University New York, NY 10032 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In the past few years, several large clinical studies have reported an association between the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and an increased risk of bone fractures. Yet, a few studies conducted on small cohorts using these drugs for a short time showed a decrease in bone resorption parameters and thus minor bone gain. To understand this paradox and to define how the deleterious effect of SSRIs could be prevented we conducted a series of studies in mice treated with fluoxetine, the active molecule of the widely prescribed SSRI Prozac. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Orthopedics / 08.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Patrick Griffin, PhD Professor Department of Molecular Therapeutics The Scripps Research Institute Florida Campus MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Over the past decade, our laboratory and that of TSRI Associate Professor Theodore Kamenecka, have focused on molecules that increase sensitivity to insulin. Using newly discovered information, we have made significant advances in developing a family of drug candidates that target a receptor known as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors gamma (PPARγ), a key regulator of stem cells controlling bone formation and bone resorption and a master regulator of fat. (more…)
Author Interviews, Bone Density, JAMA, Mediterranean Diet, Menopause / 01.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bernhard Haring, MD MPH Department of Medicine I Comprehensive Heart Failure Center University of Würzburg Germany MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Haring: The primary aim of this study was to examine the association between adherence to a diet quality index constructed on the basis of dietary recommendations or existing healthy dietary patterns and bone outcomes in a large population of postmenopausal women. We found that higher diet quality based on a Mediterranean diet may play a role in maintaining bone health in postmenopausal women. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Orthopedics / 15.02.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pamela S. Hinton, Ph.D. Associate Professor Director of Graduate Studies, Nutritional Sciences Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology University of Missouri, Columbia MO 65211 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Hinton: Because bone mass declines with age, maximization of peak bone mass is recommended as the most effective way to prevent osteoporosis. Acquisition of at least 90% of peak bone mass occurs by the age of 18 years, with additional gains of 5% to 10% during young adulthood. Because mechanical loading induces a greater adaptive response in young, compared with old, bone, adolescence and young adulthood constitute a unique window of opportunity to increase bone mass via physical activity. Although physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood is a key determinant of peak bone mass and, therefore, of future bone health, exercise after skeletal maturation can also reduce the risk of osteoporosis and related fractures. Therefore, the objective of the present study was threefold: (a) to examine the relationships between current BMD of the whole body, hip, and lumbar spine and physical activity–associated bone loading during adolescence (13-18 years), young adulthood (19-29 years), and current physical activity–associated bone loading; (b) to investigate the effects of current participation in a high-impact physical activity and/or resistance training on BMD of the whole body, total hip, and lumbar spine in apparently healthy, physically active men; and, (c) to evaluate the effects of continuous participation in high-impact activity throughout the life span on BMD of the whole body, total hip, and lumbar spine. (more…)
Author Interviews, Bone Density, Mineral Metabolism, Nutrition, Pediatrics / 13.11.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Audry H. Garcia PhD Scientist Department of Epidemiology Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam Rotterdam, The Netherlands Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Garcia: Mild and chronic metabolic acidosis as a result of a diet rich in acid-forming nutrients, such as cheese, fish, meat and grain products, may interfere with optimal bone mineralization and indirectly increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Previous observational studies in adults have reported inverse associations between dietary acid load and bone mass. However, the evidence in younger populations is scarce; only a few studies have been performed in healthy children and adolescents with inconsistent results, and not much is known on the effects of dietary acid load on bone mass in younger children or in children with a non-European background. In a prospective multiethnic population-based cohort study of 2,850 children from the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, we found that dietary acid load estimated as dietary potential renal acid load (dPRAL), and as protein intake to potassium intake ratio (Pro:K) at 1 year of age, was not consistently associated with childhood bone health. Furthermore, associations did not differ by sex, ethnicity, weight status, or vitamin D supplementation. (more…)