Bone Abstracts

South African studies indicated that urban Black and White women have similar bone turnover. However, urban Black women had low bone mass and greater exposure to lifestyle risk factors for bone disease. The purpose of this prospective study was to assess changes in bone turnover, parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, bone health (forearm, hip and lumbar spine bone mineral density) in urban black South African women over 3 years. Black, urban postmenopausal women (n=144, &...

The mature human skeleton is a metabolically active organ that is continuously resorbed and rebuilt by osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Dietary supplementation of selected long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) has shown effects on bone turnover. Most research on LCPUFAs has been done using commercially available cell lines and further clarification of the cellular effects on models relevant to humans is required. After ethical approval, peripheral blood was collected fr...

Osteoclasts are produced by fusion of pre-osteoclasts derived from stem cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage in the presence of receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) produced by osteoblasts. The phytoestrogens; genistein and daidzein, which are isoflavones found in Leguminosae such as soybeans, are currently being investigated for prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Some polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been shown to exert a bone protectiv...

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) tea is a refreshing and caffeine-free tea indigenous to the Western Cape regions of South Africa. This tea, which is rich in polyphenols and antioxidants, has shown many beneficial effects in health, however, its anti-osteoclastogenic potential remains unexplored. In this study, the in vitro effects of an aqueous extract of fermented rooibos tea were examined on osteoclast formation and bone resorption in RAW264.7 murine macropha...