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Biomedical subjects

B L Riggs

Publications and source records attributed to B L Riggs.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis with transdermal estrogen.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the tolerance and effectiveness of transdermal estrogen for women with established postmenopausal osteoporosis and vertebral fractures. DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial lasting 1 year. SETTING: Referral-based outpatient clinic. PATIENTS: Seventy-five postmenopausal women, 47 to 75 years of age, with one or more vertebral fractures due to osteoporosis. INTERVENTIONS: Thirty-nine women received dermal patches delivering 0.1 mg of 17 beta-estradiol for days 1 to 21 and oral medroxyprogesterone acetate for days 11 to 21 of a 28-day cycle. Another 39 women received placebo. MEASUREMENTS: Bone turnover assessed by biochemical markers and iliac bone histomorphometry; bone loss assessed by serial measurement of bone density; and vertebral fracture rate. RESULTS: Compared with the placebo group, the median annual percentage change in bone mineral density in the estrogen group reflected increased or steady-state bone mineral density at the lumbar spine (5.3 compared with 0.2; P = 0.007), femoral trochanter (7.6 compared with 2.1; P = 0.03), and midradius (1.0 compared with -2.6, P less than 0.001) but showed no significant difference at the femoral neck (2.6 compared with 1.4; P = 0.17). Estrogen treatment uniformly decreased bone turnover as assessed by several methods including serum osteocalcin concentration (median change, -0.35 compared with 0.02 nmol/L; P less than 0.001). Histomorphometric evaluation of iliac biopsy samples confirmed the effect of estrogen on bone formation rate per bone volume (median change, -12.9 compared with -6.2% per year; P = 0.004). Also, 8 new fractures occurred in 7 women in the estrogen group, whereas 20 occurred in 12 women in the placebo group, yielding a lower vertebral fracture rate in the estrogen group (relative risk, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.16 to 0.95). CONCLUSIONS: Transdermal estradiol treatment is effective in postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis.

Administration, Cutaneous

Development and characterization of a rapidly proliferating, well-differentiated cell line derived from normal adult human osteoblast-like cells transfected with SV40 large T antigen.

A new bone cell line was established by transfecting normal adult human osteoblast-like (hOB) cells, derived from a 68-year-old woman, with the plasmid pSV3 neo. The plasmid included coding sequences and promotors for the large and small T antigens of the SV40 virus as well as resistance to the antibiotics neomycin and G418. A single antibiotic-resistant colony was located and cloned. Large tumor antigen production in the clonal cell line was confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence study. Treatment with 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3 increased steady-state concentrations of protein and mRNA for osteocalcin and for alkaline phosphatase. Northern blot analyses also demonstrated the presence of mRNAs for alpha(I)-procollagen, osteopontin 1a, transforming growth factor beta, and interleukin-1 beta. The plasma membrane calcium pump and osteonectin were identified by immunocytochemical analysis. These cells produced a matrix that mineralized when beta-glycerophosphate was added to their cultures. As assessed by functional receptor assays, both estrogen and androgen receptors were present and functional, although at low concentrations. Treatment with parathyroid hormone did not stimulate adenylate cyclase activity. Thus, these cells are a well-differentiated, steroid-responsive clonal cell line that closely approximates the phenotype of the mature osteoblast. They should serve as an excellent model for the study of osteoblast biology.

Aged

Is caffeine consumption a risk factor for osteoporosis?

High caffeine consumption has been proposed as a risk factor for osteoporotic fracture, but the evidence associating high caffeine intake with low bone density is inconsistent. We therefore examined the influence of caffeine consumption on bone mineral at six skeletal sites in an age-stratified random sample of white women residing in Rochester, Minnesota. After age adjustment, there was no association between overall caffeine consumption and bone mineral at five of the six sites. In the femoral shaft, however, there was a statistically significant interaction between age and caffeine consumption so that high caffeine intake was associated with slight reductions in bone mineral among elderly subjects but with modestly increased bone mineral at younger ages. When caffeine intake was categorized by source, no consistent influence of coffee, tea, or other caffeinated beverage consumption could be detected on bone mineral. Caffeine intake was, however, positively associated with cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. After adjusting for age, caffeine consumption was not correlated with biochemical indices of bone turnover, circulating concentrations of estradiol and estrone, or other dietary and musculoskeletal variables. These data suggest that caffeine intake in the range consumed by a representative sample of white women is not an important risk factor for osteoporosis. Among elderly women, however, in whom calcium balance performance is impaired, high caffeine intake may predispose to cortical bone loss from the proximal femur.

Adult

Perspective. How many women have osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is widely viewed as a major public health concern, but the exact magnitude of the problem is uncertain and likely to depend on how the condition is defined. Noninvasive bone mineral measurements can be used to define a state of heightened fracture risk (osteopenia), or the ultimate clinical manifestation of fracture can be assessed (established osteoporosis). If bone mineral measurements more than 2 standard deviations below the mean of young normal women represent osteopenia, then 45% of white women aged 50 years and over have the condition at one or more sites in the hip, spine, or forearm on the basis of population-based data from Rochester, Minnesota. A smaller proportion is affected at each specific skeletal site: 32% have bone mineral values this low in the lumbar spine, 29% in either of two regions in the proximal femur, and 26% in the midradius. Although this overall estimate is substantial, some other serious chronic diseases are almost as common. More importantly, low bone mass is associated with adverse health outcomes, especially fractures. The lifetime risk of any fracture of the hip, spine, or distal forearm is almost 40% in white women and 13% in white men from age 50 years onward. If the enormous costs associated with these fractures are to be reduced, increased attention must be given to the design and implementation of control programs directed at this major health problem.

Adult

Zeolite A increases proliferation, differentiation, and transforming growth factor beta production in normal adult human osteoblast-like cells in vitro.

Silicon in trace amounts enhances bone formation, and the silicon-containing compound zeolite A (ZA) increases eggshell thickness in hens. In the studies reported here, treatment of nearly homogeneous strains of normal human osteoblast-like cells for 48 h with ZA at 0.1-100 micrograms/ml induced a dose-dependent increase (r = 0.35, P < 0.001) in DNA synthesis (n = 31) to 162 +/- 16% (mean +/- SEM) of control and in the proportion of cells in mitosis (n = 4) from 9.1 +/- 1.8 to 27.0 +/- 4.5% (r = 0.69, P < 0.005). ZA treatment also increased alkaline phosphatase activity (P < 0.05) and osteocalcin release (P < 0.05) but did not significantly affect collagen production per individual cell. The mitogenic action of ZA was dependent on cell seeding density over the range of 1250-40,000 cells per cm2, which is consistent with induction of an autocrine factor(s). TGF-beta is a potent mitogen for osteoblasts. ZA treatment increased the steady-state mRNA levels of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) and induced the release of the latent form of TGF-beta protein into the conditioned medium within 6 h. We conclude that ZA induces the proliferation and differentiation of cells of the osteoblast lineage.

Alkaline Phosphatase

Utility of type I procollagen propeptide assays for assessing abnormalities in metabolic bone diseases.

We measured type I procollagen carboxyl-terminal propeptide (PICP) by a commercial radioimmunoassay and amino-terminal propeptide (PINP) by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) developed in our laboratory in serum from 75 normal women, 10 growing girls, 84 normal men, and 197 patients with various metabolic bone diseases. The molar concentrations of serum PINP were 100-fold higher than those of PICP, suggesting differences in the metabolism of PICP and PINP. In normal women, serum PICP values correlated positively with age and serum PINP values correlated negatively with age (r = 0.28 and -0.32, respectively; P = 0.02). In normal men, however, PICP correlated negatively with age (r = -0.32, P = 0.003) whereas PINP did not change. As assessed by Z scores (SD from age- and sex-specific predicted normal mean), changes in serum PICP and PINP values were concordant in hypoparathyroidism (mean Z scores for PICP and PINP, -0.63 and -1.48, respectively) and Cushing's syndrome (0.50 and 0.40) but were discordant in acromegaly (0.78 and -0.68), hyperthyroidism (1.33 and -0.66), untreated postmenopausal osteoporosis (-0.11 and 0.40), fluoride-treated postmenopausal osteoporosis (-0.61 and 1.08), Paget's disease (4.05 and -0.20), and chronic renal failure (1.45 and -0.50). With either assay, deviations from normal were less pronounced than the deviations of concurrently measured serum osteocalcin and bone alkaline phosphatase values. The deviations in these latter two values agreed better with those of PICP than with those of PINP, except in untreated or fluoride-treated osteoporotic patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent

Glucocorticoid regulation of alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and proto-oncogenes in normal human osteoblast-like cells.

In humans, glucocorticoids are known to have marked effects on bone metabolism and function, including the significant regulation of osteoblast cells. To aid in the understanding of the mechanism of glucocorticoid action on normal human osteoblasts (hOB), confluent cells were analyzed for the presence of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) as well as for the effects of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone (Dex) on the expression of both the rapid responding nuclear proto-oncogenes and the late responding structural genes for bone matrix proteins. The interactions between Dex and 1,25 dihydroxy vitamin D3 (1,25 D3) on the gene expression in these cells were also examined. Using a functional receptor assay, a mean of 11,600 functional nuclear bound glucocorticoid receptors (range 6,000-22,000) was measured in fifteen separate cell strains. Northern blot analysis with a cDNA probe to the human GR was used to demonstrate the presence of a 7Kb transcript which is a candidate mRNA for GR in these cells. In agreement with previous studies, treatment of the hOB cells with Dex increased the steady state mRNA levels for alkaline phosphatase (AP) but displayed little or no effect on the mRNA levels for osteocalcin (OC) and glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Interestingly, the 1,25 D3 inductions of mRNA levels for OC were blocked by Dex but enhanced for AP. The above effects of Dex on AP and OC gene expression, including the interaction with 1,25 D3, were also shown to occur at the level of protein. The effect of Dex on the mRNA levels of the nuclear proto-oncogenes c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun was also investigated, since the oncoproteins (Fos/Jun) appear to play a role in the delayed glucocorticoid regulation of structural genes. Interestingly, Dex increased the steady state levels of c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun mRNAs in nonproliferating (confluent) hOB cells by 3.5-, 10-, and 2.0-fold, respectively, over control (untreated cells) values within one h of steroid treatment. The Dex-induced mRNA levels were transient and returned to basal values within 24 h of the steroid treatment. A reduced but qualitatively similar pattern of response was found in proliferating hOB cells. The pattern of response of these genes to glucocorticoids in hOB cells mimics the response in avian liver cells but not in reproductive cells. These results support the theory that hOB cells are target cells for glucocorticoids, and that as a primary event glucocorticoids rapidly regulate the expression of the nuclear oncoproteins Fos/Jun in these cells.

Alkaline Phosphatase

Osteoporosis and calcification of the aorta.

In an age-stratified random sample of 200 Rochester, Minnesota women, the prevalence of aortic calcification rose with aging, as did the prevalence of vertebral fractures, while bone mass fell. The statistically significant positive association of aortic calcification with vertebral fractures and the negative associations with bone mass at six skeletal sites were mainly accounted for by age. After age-adjustment, the only association remaining was a negative one between calcified aortic plaques and bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine (P < 0.05). Aortic calcification was not associated with any measures of calcium metabolism, after adjusting for age, except for a slight negative association between linear aortic calcifications and 25(OH) vitamin D levels (P < 0.05). BMD values of the lumbar spine were somewhat greater than predicted for age in women with severe aortic calcification, but similar findings were seen at other skeletal sites and none of the differences was statistically significant. While overestimation of bone mass was generally minimal, severe aortic calcification may distort lumbar spine assessments in a minority of postmenopausal women.

Adult

Pernicious anaemia as a risk factor for osteoporosis.

1. If gastric acid is necessary for the absorption of dietary calcium, the total absence of gastric acid secretion that occurs in pernicious anaemia could result in bone loss. To investigate this, we measured calcium absorption and bone density in 21 postmenopausal women (ages 51-76 years) with pernicious anaemia and in 24 normal postmenopausal women (ages 51-79 years). 2. Relative to the normal women, in the women with pernicious anaemia the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine was decreased by 16% (P less than 0.001). 3. After adjustment for age and body weight, lumbar spine bone mineral density correlated with the serum concentration of group 1 pepsinogens (a group of proteins produced by the gastric fundus) (r = 0.61, P less than 0.01). 4. Despite achlorhydria, the women with pernicious anaemia had normal true fractional calcium absorption and normal serum levels of parathyroid hormone and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. 5. We conclude that gastric acid is not required for the absorption of dietary calcium. Thus, the loss of cancellous bone must be caused by some mechanism yet to be identified.

Achlorhydria

Nyctohemeral changes in bone turnover assessed by serum bone Gla-protein concentration and urinary deoxypyridinoline excretion: effects of growth and ageing.

1. To investigate whether there is a nyctohemeral rhythm in bone turnover, we measured serum bone Gla-protein (osteocalcin, an index of osteoblast activity) concentration every 2h and urinary deoxypyridinoline (a marker of bone collagen resorption) excretion for 8h periods in 10 pubertal girls (aged 10-14 years), 15 premenopausal women (aged 20-49 years) and 17 postmenopausal women (aged 50-75 years). 2. The serum concentration of bone Gla-protein and the urinary excretion of deoxypyridinoline were five times higher in the pubertal girls than in the premenopausal women. The urinary excretion of deoxypyridinoline in the postmenopausal women was twice that in the premenopausal women. 3. There was a nyctohemeral pattern in all age groups with mean night-time increases of 28% (P < 0.001) in the urinary excretion of deoxypyridinoline and of 5% (P < 0.001) in the serum bone Gla-protein concentration. 4. There also were nyctohemeral patterns in the urinary excretion of calcium (P < 0.02), sodium (P < 0.001) and potassium (P < 0.001), with decreases at night. There was a negative correlation between the night-time changes in the urinary excretion of deoxypyridinoline and calcium, especially in adult women (P < 0.01). 5. The serum level of parathyroid hormone increased with age, but this effect was only observed at night (01.00 to 07.00 hours). There was a nyctohemeral rhythm of the serum intact parathyroid hormone level at all ages, with a peak in the afternoon and night. 6. Thus, at night, there is a large increase in bone resorption and a small increase in osteoblastic activity, representing a nyctohemeral rhythm of bone turnover.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent

Production of various cytokines by normal human osteoblast-like cells in response to interleukin-1 beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha: lack of regulation by 17 beta-estradiol.

We investigated, in five cell strains per experiment, whether several cytokines known or believed to have effects on bone resorption were produced by nearly homogeneous strains of cultured normal human osteoblast-like (hOB) cells that display virtually the complete phenotype of the mature osteoblast. In unstimulated hOB cells, we detected constitutive production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) (mean +/- SE, 122 +/- 32 pg/ml) and IL-8 (135 +/- 39 pg/ml), but not of IL-4, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha). IL-1 beta in doses from 1-100 U/ml stimulated dose-dependent increases in IL-6 (r = 0.87; P less than 0.001) and IL-8 (r = 0.95; P less than 0.001). Similar increases occurred after stimulation with TNF alpha in doses from 3-300 U/ml. IL-1 beta and TNF alpha also stimulated GM-CSF production, but only at higher doses. 17 beta-Estradiol (10(-8) M) had no significant effect on the secretion of any of these cytokines, either constitutively or after stimulation with IL-1 beta or TNF alpha. Stimulated production of IL-4 was not detected after treatment with IL-1 beta or TNF alpha, and that of TNF alpha was not detected after treatment with IL-1 beta. We conclude that IL-6, IL-8, and GM-CSF, but not IL-4 and TNF alpha, are produced by highly differentiated normal human cells of the osteoblast lineage, but their secretion is not regulated by estrogen. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that estrogen regulation of these cytokines may occur during early stages of osteoblast differentiation.

Cells, Cultured

Abnormalities in circadian patterns of bone resorption and renal calcium conservation in type I osteoporosis.

We compared changes over 24 h in 15 postmenopausal normal women (mean [+/- SD] age, 64 +/- 7 yr) with those in 15 postmenopausal women with type I osteoporosis and vertebral fractures (mean age, 64 +/- 5 yr). The serum osteocalcin concentration, a sensitive index of bone formation, increased by about 5% at night in both groups. Urinary deoxypyridinoline excretion, a sensitive index of bone resorption, increased by 48% at night (P less than 0.01) in the normal women, whereas in the osteoporotic women it was 62% higher overall (P less than 0.05), and the increase persisted into the morning. At night, urinary fractional excretion of calcium decreased by 20% (P less than 0.001) in the normal women, but was unchanged in the osteoporotic women; this circadian pattern differed between groups (P less than 0.05). The serum ionized calcium concentration did not change at night in either group. There was a trend (P = 0.07) for blunting of the nocturnal increase in the serum intact PTH level in osteoporotic women. Thus, the nocturnal serum ionized calcium level is maintained by decreased urinary calcium excretion and increased bone resorption in postmenopausal normal women, but almost entirely by increased resorption in postmenopausal osteoporotic women. This greater dependence on bone resorption during the nocturnal fast may account in part for the greater bone loss in osteoporotic women.

Amino Acids

Evidence of an age-related decrease in intestinal responsiveness to vitamin D: relationship between serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and intestinal vitamin D receptor concentrations in normal women.

Although aged rats reportedly have reduced intestinal vitamin D receptor (VDR) concentrations, it is unclear whether an analogous age-related defect occurs in man. Thus, we assessed the interrelationship among serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25-(OH)2D3], calcium absorption and intestinal VDR in 44 healthy, ambulatory women, ages 20-87 yr. Fractional calcium absorption was measured after oral administration of 45Ca (20 mg CaCl2 as carrier); serum 1,25-(OH)2D3, by the calf thymus binding assay; and serum intact PTH, by a two-site immunochemiluminometric assay. Vitamin D receptor concentration was measured, by a new immunoradiometric assay, in biopsy specimens taken from the second part of the duodenum during gastroduodenoscopy in 35 of the women. Despite an age-related increase in serum PTH (r = 0.48; P less than 0.001) and in serum 1,25-(OH)2D3 concentration (r = 0.32; P less than 0.05), intestinal VDR concentration decreased with age (r = -0.38; P = 0.03) and fractional calcium absorption did not change with age. Although a contribution of decreased 25-hydroxyvitamin D 1 alpha-hydroxylase activity to the blunting of the increase in serum 1,25-(OH)2D3 concentration late in life is not excluded, the data are far more consistent with impaired intestinal responsiveness to 1,25-(OH)2D3 action. This defect could lead to compensatory increases in PTH secretion and 1,25-(OH)2D3 production which maintain calcium absorption and serum ionic calcium, but at the expense of increased bone loss.

Adult

Basal and regulated secretion of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in osteoblast-like cells is cell line specific.

Local secretion of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) may modulate the effects of IGF-I and IGF-II on bone cell metabolism and proliferation. Several osteoblast-derived cell lines are currently used as interchangeable models to study IGFBP production, although it is unknown whether findings in one cell line can be extrapolated to another cell line or to normal human osteoblasts. In this study, we examined by Western ligand blotting both basal and regulated secretion of IGFBPs in vitro in 1) normal human osteoblast-like (hOB) cells cultured from explants of human trabecular bone; 2) an SV40-transformed hOB (HOBIT) cell line; and 3) several human (U-2, MG-63, TE-85) and rat (ROS 17/2.8 and UMR-106-01) osteosarcoma cell lines. Constitutively, hOB and HOBIT cells produced a similar pattern of IGFBPs, while all other cell lines produced their own unique pattern of IGFBPs. The two rat cell lines differed from the human cell lines as well as from each other. The response to hormonal stimulation also varied among the cell lines. Treatment of hOB and HOBIT cells with IGF-I resulted in a 2-fold increase in medium levels of IGFBP-3; IGF-I decreased levels of 24-kilodalton (kDa) IGFBP in hOB cell-conditioned medium. In addition, IGF-I markedly increased levels of the 29/32/34 kDa IGFBP triplet in U-2 cells, but had little or no effect in the other human and rat osteosarcoma cell lines. PTH increased a 29-kDa IGFBP apparent only in UMR 106-01 cell-conditioned medium, whereas GH had no direct effect on IGFBP secretion in any of the osteoblast-like cells tested. We conclude that basal and regulated secretion of IGFBPs from osteoblast-like cells is cell-line specific. Spontaneously transformed human or rat osteoblast-like cells provide unique model systems to study features of distinct IGFBPs and their regulation; however, hOB cells and their derivatives may be more appropriate models for understanding the regulation of IGFs in human bone.

Animals

Skeletal responsiveness to endogenous parathyroid hormone in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

To test the hypothesis that increased sensitivity of bone to PTH may be a major cause of bone loss in postmenopausal osteoporosis, we induced acute calcium deprivation and measured bone responsiveness to endogenous PTH under physiological conditions. Eighteen osteoporotic and 17 normal postmenopausal women with similar dietary calcium intakes were studied before and after 4 days of calcium deprivation (dietary calcium 230 mg/day and treatment with a calcium-binding agent). Despite decreased serum PTH values, the baseline indices of bone turnover (serum osteocalcin level and 24-h urinary excretions of total deoxypyridinoline/creatinine and pyridinoline/creatinine corrected for total body bone mineral content), were higher in the osteoporotic women. During calcium deprivation, the changes in bone markers from baseline were similar in both groups, except for serum osteocalcin and serum type I procollagen carboxy-terminal propeptide. Changes in the normal and the osteoporotic women were, respectively: serum ionized calcium concentration decreased 3.3% and 2.1%; serum intact PTH increased 65% and 56%; plasma 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 increased 29% and 39%; pyridinoline/creatinine increased 12% and 11%; and deoxypyridinoline/creatinine increased 27% and 12%. Serum osteocalcin increased 2.3% and serum procollagen carboxy-terminal propeptide decreased 9.4% in the normal women but did not change in the osteoporotic women. We conclude that women with postmenopausal osteoporosis do not have increased skeletal responsiveness to PTH compared with age-comparable normal postmenopausal women. Therefore, the higher bone turnover in postmenopausal osteoporosis, despite lower serum intact PTH concentration, must be due to other factors. Assessment of acute changes in bone turnover during physiological alterations in endogenous PTH secretion is a useful test in metabolic bone diseases.

Bone Density