Posts Tagged ‘Adiponectin’

A protein secreted from adipocytes, Adiponectin, has been found to be the metabolic link between obesity and both bone mineral density (BMD) and reduced susceptibility to fractures.

The finding was revealed during a study by researchers at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Canada, which appeared in an issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine.

From News-Medical.Net:

Female mice overexpressing adiponectin had weaker vertebra at 8 weeks of age than control mice and this delay in bone development persisted through to the end of the study period, representing early adulthood. The weaker vertebra model compression fractures of the lumbar spine in humans, among the most common type of fragility fracture associated with low bone mass and osteoporosis. The strength of the femur neck, representing the hip, was also weaker in both females and males overexpressing adiponectin. Serum adiponectin levels were inversely correlated with femur bone mineral content, further emphasizing that a high level of adiponectin impedes bone development at not only the lumbar spine but also the hip. Whether or not the delay in bone development resolves in later life or is sustained and leads to an increased risk of fragility fracture, particularly during aging when bone loss rapidly occurs due to declining levels of sex steroids, requires further investigation.

The research team, Dr. Michael C. Archer, Earle W. McHenry Professor and Chair, Dr. Wendy E. Ward, Associate Professor, Dr. Kafi Ealey, Postdoctoral Fellow and predoctoral student Jovana Kaludjerovic, in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, evaluated whether or not the diponectin modulates bone development using transgenic mice that overexpress this protein.