Bone Abstracts

Objectives: Murine studies have shown that iron deficiency during pregnancy can cause abnormal phosphate and bone metabolism in offspring by elevating concentrations of fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23). FGF23 exists in plasma as an intact phosphate- and vitamin D-regulating hormone and its C-terminal fragment, a cleavage product that possibly antagonises the intact hormone. These findings are pertinent to low-income countries, where the prevalence of iron deficiency in preg...