This study explores how select microRNAs (miRNAs) influence bone structure in humans and in transgenic mice. In trabecular bone biopsies from 84 postmenopausal women (healthy, osteopenic, and osteoporotic), we demonstrate that (deleted in lymphocytic leukemia 2)-encoded is strongly positively associated with bone mineral density (BMD) at different skeletal sites. In bone transcriptome analyses, levels correlated positively with the osteocyte characteristic transcripts (encoding sclerostin) and (Matrix Extracellular Phosphoglycoprotein), while the related showed a negative association with BMD and osteoblast markers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMen with distal forearm fractures have reduced bone density, an increased risk of osteoporosis and of further fractures. The aim of the study was to investigate the structural determinants of these observations using quantitative CT (qCT). Ninety six men with low-trauma distal forearm fracture and 101 age-matched healthy control subjects were recruited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMechanical loading exerts a profound influence on bone density and architecture, but the exact mechanism is unknown. Our study shows that expression of the neurological transcriptional factor zinc finger of the cerebellum 1 () is markedly increased in trabecular bone biopsies in the lumbar spine compared with the iliac crest, skeletal sites of high and low mechanical stress, respectively. Human trabecular bone transcriptome analyses revealed a strong association between mRNA levels and gene transcripts characteristically associated with osteoblasts, osteocytes and osteoclasts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aim of our study was to investigate the predictive value of the biomarkers interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10) and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) compared with clinical CRB and CRB-65 severity scores in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).
Methods: Samples and data were obtained from patients enrolled into the German CAPNETZ study group. Samples (blood, sputum and urine) were collected within 24 h of first presentation and inclusion in the CAPNETZ study, and CRB and CRB-65 scores were determined for all patients at the time of enrollment.