Journal of Bone and Mineral Research

Inner ear’s role in bone remodeling

Microgravity conditions during space flight cause bone loss. Microgravity also alters the function of the inner ear’s vestibular system – the main sensory organ for gravity and movement. Florent Elefteriou, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Center for Bone Biology, and colleagues explored a possible connection between bone remodeling and the inner ear by altering vestibular system function in both ears of rats and analyzing the skeletal response.

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Association of serum fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) and incident fractures in older men: the osteoporotic fractures in men (MrOS) study

Lane NE et al. – Normal mineral metabolism is critical for skeletal integrity and recently serum fibroblast Growth factor 23 (FGF23) levels were found to be directly related to overall fracture risk in elderly Swedish Men. To confirm this association, the authors performed a prospective case–cohort study to understand the relation of FGF23 and fracture risk in older Caucasian men enrolled in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study. Serum FGF23 levels are not associated with incident fractures in elderly men overall. However, higher levels of serum FGF23 are associated with fracture risk in those with poor renal function.

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Hepatitis C co-infection and severity of liver disease as risk factors for osteoporotic fractures among HIV-infected patients

Maalouf NM et al. – Osteoporosis is increasingly reported in the aging HIV–positive population, and co–infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) may further increase the risk of osteoporosis. However, it remains unclear whether HCV–related increased fracture risk is a function of the severity of liver disease. Among HIV–infected patients, severity of liver disease partly explains the HCV–associated increased risk of osteoporotic fractures. Other determinants of this increased risk remain to be defined.

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Trabecular homogeneity index derived from plain radiograph to evaluate bone quality

Thevenot J et al. – Radiographic texture analysis has been developed lately to improve the assessment of bone architecture as a determinant of bone quality. The authors present here a method to assess homogeneity index (HI) that can explain itself 50% of an experimental failure load and determines bones with high fracture risk with similar accuracy than BMD. The HI had also good correlation with DXA and CT–derived data.

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In this ASBMR interview, JBMR Editor-in-Chief Juliet Compston discusses her goals for the Journal, and her personal advice to researchers submitting papers.

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