The Association between Urine Albumin to Creatinine Ratio and Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women with Type 2 Diabetes

Potential of RNA-binding protein human antigen R as a driver of osteogenic differentiation in osteoporosis

Background

Emerging evidence has correlated the human antigen R (HuR) with the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6) gene, an important therapeutic target for osteoporosis. Herein, we sought to probe the regulatory role of HuR in the LRP6 gene and their interaction in the progression of osteoporosis.

Methods

HuR and downstream potential target genes were predicted by bioinformatics analysis to identify their potential functions in bone metabolism following osteoporosis. The effect of HuR on the osteoblastic differentiation and viability and apoptosis of mouse embryo osteoblast precursor cells (MC3T3-E1) was evaluated after artificial modulation of HuR expression.

Results

Bone phenotypes were observed in ovariectomized mice in response to adenovirus-mediated HuR overexpression. Poor expression of HuR was identified in the bone tissues of ovariectomized mice. Silencing of HuR inhibited the osteoblastic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells, as evidenced by decreased expression of Runx2 and Osterix along with reduced ALP activity. Mechanistically, HuR stabilized LRP6 mRNA and promoted its translation by binding to the 3'UTR of LRP6 mRNA, leading to activation of the downstream Wnt pathway. By this mechanism, osteoblastic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells was induced. In ovariectomized mice, overexpression of HuR alleviated osteoporosis-related phenotypes.

Conclusion

Overall, these data together support the promoting role of HuR in the osteoblastic differentiation, highlighting a potential novel strategy for osteoporosis treatment.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13018-022-03073-w.

Hybrid deep learning model for risk prediction of fracture in patients with diabetes and osteoporosis

The fracture risk of patients with diabetes is higher than those of patients without diabetes due to hyperglycemia, usage of diabetes drugs, changes in insulin levels, and excretion, and this risk begins as early as adolescence. Many factors including demographic data (such as age, height, weight, and gender), medical history (such as smoking, drinking, and menopause), and examination (such as bone mineral density, blood routine, and urine routine) may be related to bone metabolism in patients with diabetes. However, most of the existing methods are qualitative assessments and do not consider the interactions of the physiological factors of humans. In addition, the fracture risk of patients with diabetes and osteoporosis has not been further studied previously. In this paper, a hybrid model combining XGBoost with deep neural network is used to predict the fracture risk of patients with diabetes and osteoporosis, and investigate the effect of patients' physiological factors on fracture risk. A total of 147 raw input features are considered in our model. The presented model is compared with several benchmarks based on various metrics to prove its effectiveness. Moreover, the top 18 influencing factors of fracture risks of patients with diabetes are determined.

MicroRNA-151a-3p Functions in the Regulation of Osteoclast Differentiation: Significance to Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

BACKGROUND

Studies have found the pivotal role of miRNAs in the progression of postmenopausal osteoporosis (OP). However, the function of miRNAs in OP is unclear. This study aimed to explore the biological functions of microRNA-151a-3p in OP.

METHODS

RT-qPCR was employed to assess the expression of microRNA-151a-3p in serum isolated from OP patients and healthy controls. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure the bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine. The expression levels of c-Fos, NFATc1, and TRAP were tested by Western blot. Ovariectomized (OVX) rats were treated with antago microRNA-151a-3p or antago NC, and then serum and lumbar vertebrae were collected for ELISA and bone histomorphology analysis.

RESULTS

The expression of microRNA-151a-3p in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis was significantly up-regulated, and microRNA-151a-3p level was negatively correlated with BMD. During osteoclastogenesis, microRNA-151a-3p level was obviously increased. Overexpression of microRNA-151a-3p promoted the differentiation of RANKL-induced THP-1 and RAW264.7 cells into osteoclasts, whereas silencing of microRNA-151a-3p resulted in the opposite results. Silencing of microRNA-151a-3p in OVX rats altered osteoclastogenesis-related factors and raised BMD.

CONCLUSION

MicroRNA-151a-3p could partly regulate osteoporosis by promoting osteoclast differentiation, and miRNA-151a-3p could be a potential therapeutic target for postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Association between urine albumin to creatinine ratio and bone mineral density: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Studies on the association between urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) and bone mineral density (BMD) are still controversial.

AIMS

This study investigated the association between ACR and BMD in the general US population.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study identified 2007 individuals aged 40 or above years with complete and valid data on urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) and femoral neck, total femur and lumbar spine BMD from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013-2014. ACR was directly measured with established methods. BMDs were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). After adjusting for multiple covariates, we used general linear model (GLM) to compare the mean of BMD between the quartiles of ACR.

RESULTS

The mean age of participants in this study was 54.6 ± 11.3 years; 52.6% of them were female. ACR was negatively associated with BMD at femoral neck, total femur and lumbar spine (all P < 0.05). After adjusting for covariates, higher level of ACR quartile was associated with lower femoral neck BMD (P for trend = 0.032), but with not total femur and lumbar spine BMD (all P for trend > 0.05)).

CONCLUSION

ACR was negatively associated with femoral neck BMD in the general US population. Future studies are warranted to confirm our results.

Glomerular filtration rate is associated with trabecular bone score in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

AIMS

The present study aimed to evaluate the trabecular and cortical bone components using Trabecular Bone Score (TBS) and its association with estimated-Glomerular Filtration Rate (e-GFR) in T2DM patients.

METHODS

An assessment both of bone mineral density (BMD) and vertebral bone microarchitecture was performed in all patients using TBS iNsight® software version 3.0.2.0. Furthermore, the total population was divided into two groups based on the value of the eGFR (eGFR < o > at 60 ml/min/1.73 m²).

RESULTS

TBS value was lower in patients with low e-GFR than that in patients with higher e-GFR (1.246 ± 0.125 vs 1.337 ± 0.115, respectively, p = 0.013 adjusted by gender and age) while there was no difference in total BMD value between two groups. In the multivariate model taking into account several possible confounders, such as age, gender, duration of diabetes, BMI, LDL cholesterol, serum calcium and HbA1c, the correlation between e-GFR and TBS remained significant (p: 0.046).

CONCLUSIONS

In individuals with T2DM and reduced kidney function, TBS provides information independent of BMD, age and gender. TBS may be a useful additional tool to predict fracture risk in this unique population.