Bone Abstracts

Mechanical loading exerts a major influence on the size, shape and structure of the skeleton attained in early adulthood, an important determinant of osteoporotic fracture risk in later life. In studies of exercise interventions in children intended to optimise skeletal development, activities associated with relatively high impacts are generally more effective, in line with findings from laboratory studies that bone is exquisitely sensitive to high impacts producing transient...

Recent evidence supports a strong influence of early life movement on infant bone strength. However, it is not known whether early motor development also influences bone strength in later life. Therefore, we examined relationships between locomotor score (using components of the Denver Developmental Screening Test) at 18 months, and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) Co-ordination Test (ACT) score at 7 years, and bone outcomes as measured at age 17 ye...

Introduction: Intracellular fat within muscle and visceral tissue has been suggested to adversely influence bone development.Design: We aimed to compare associations between intramuscular and subcutaneous fat and cortical bone outcomes in young adults, in cross-sectional analyses based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.Method: Data were collected from a research clinic conducted at 17 years of age. Intramuscula...

Background: Scoliosis is lateral curvature of the spine ≥10°, as measured on standing spinal radiographs. There are no published studies that have investigated determinants of scoliosis using a prospective cohort design, making the establishment of cause and effect difficult. Several large population-based cohorts exist throughout the world with a wide range of data already collected, and while spinal imaging with radiographs is not generally collected in these coho...

Background: Scoliosis is lateral curvature of the spine, and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) accounts for the majority of cases of scoliosis. One potential determinant of scoliosis that is of great interest is bone size and density. However, there are no published studies that have investigated determinants of scoliosis using a prospective cohort design making the establishment of cause and effect difficult.Methods: This study was based on the Avon...

Background: Relationships between muscle function and bone have been examined using a range of techniques, with conflicting results. We aimed to determine these associations within an adult population comprising individuals with high bone mass and family controls.Methods: Recruitment was from four UK sites within the high bone mass (HBM) study; cases and unaffected family controls were pooled. Peak ground reaction force and peak power, during a multiple ...

Extreme high bone mass (HBM) may be monogenic (e.g. LRP5 mutations) or polygenic, due to variants in the same genes determining bone mineral density (BMD) as found in the general population. We aimed to determine how variation in established BMD loci, in different functional pathways, explains the HBM phenotype.241 unexplained HBM cases (lumbar spine(LS)1+total hip(TH) Z-scores≥+4.4) were recruited from 15 UK centres, by screening...

Objectives: Studies indicate that later puberty is associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD) in childhood. Less is known about effects of puberty timing on long-term bone accrual. We examined association between age at puberty and BMD accrual rate from 10 to 25 years.Methods: This was a prospective birth cohort of healthy largely European people born in southwest England in 1991–1992 and regularly follow-up from birth to mean age 25 years. Ag...

Hip development is influenced by mechanical loading during fetal movement by joint and reaction forces equivalent to several times bodyweight. These forces increase with fetal size and gestation length, and are lower in oligohydramnios and breech presentation which are both risk factors for developmental hip disorders. However, associations between indicators of prenatal mechanical loading and hip shape in later life remain unexplored. We therefore examined associations betwee...

Rural to urban migration is associated with adverse metabolic consequences, but its effect on osteoporosis risk is unclear. We investigated associations between rural to urban migration and bone mineral density (BMD) after accounting for changes in body composition. A cross sectional analysis was performed of rural–urban migrants (RUM) matched with rural non-migrated (RNM) siblings, plus a separate sample of urban-non-migrants (UNM). Participants (n=764, 54% male...