The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research was held from Sept. 8 to 11 in Denver and attracted approximately 4,000 participants from around the world, including basic research scientists and clinical investigators in bone and mineral metabolism as well as physicians and other health care practitioners. The conference focused on the latest advances in bone and mineral research, as well as the translation of research into clinical practice.
Using longitudinal data from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study, Dana Bliuc, Ph.D., of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, and colleagues compared the rates of bone loss and mortality between patients prescribed bisphosphonates, either nitrogen-bisphosphonates (alendronate or risedronate) or a weaker non-nitrogen-bisphosphonate (etidronate), and those not prescribed antiresorptive medications.
“Our findings indicated that only the more potent nitrogen-bisphosphonates (alendronate and risedronate) were associated with a significant improvement in both the rate of bone loss and survival. Etidronate had only a weak effect on bone loss prevention and did not impact mortality rates,” Bliuc said. “Participants who experienced rapid bone loss had a three-fold higher mortality risk compared to those who maintained their bone mass. Based on these results, we estimated that a third of the deaths prevented in those on treatment were mediated by a reduction in the rate of bone loss.”
Overall, the investigators concluded that patients prescribed nitrogen-bisphosphonates, compared to those with similar baseline mortality who were not on any anti-osteoporosis treatments, had improved survival that appeared to be partly mediated through a reduction in the rate of bone loss.
In another study, Olja Grgic, a Ph.D. candidate at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues evaluated whether a femoral stress index (FSI) is associated independently of bone mineral density (BMD) with fracture risk in school-aged children. The investigators found that the risk of fracture did not differ between school-aged boys and girls but was higher among children of European ethnic background.
“The FSI is associated with fracture risk independently of BMD, suggesting that it is the biomechanical assessment best capturing fracture propensity of children of school age,” Grgic said. “This study helps to identify groups of children with higher risk of fracture. Our findings with regard to the FSI suggests that interventions leading to increased BMD can help reduce fracture risk in children, and also drive attention to intervention strategies to reduce stresses by strengthening muscle groups and reducing weight, particularly during bone development where geometric configurations play an important role.”
Using advanced three-dimensional imaging analysis of high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography, X. Edward Guo, Ph.D., of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues found that antiresorptive denosumab treatment prevents rapid trabecular microstructure deterioration in postmenopausal women by reversing the trabecular plate to rod transformation.
“Plate-like trabeculae represent better and stronger bone material than rod-like trabeculae,” Guo said. “Preservation of trabecular plate-rod microstructure could contribute to the preservation of mechanical integrity and the reduction of fracture risk.”
ASBMR: Romosozumab Reduces Fracture Rate in Osteoporosis
MONDAY, Sept. 11, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Romosozumab treatment followed by alendronate is linked to reduced risk of fractures versus alendronate alone for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, according to a study published online Sept. 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was published to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, held from Sept. 8 to 11 in Denver.
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