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Hart DA. The Heterogeneity of Post-Menopausal Disease Risk: Could the Basis for Why Only Subsets of Females Are Affected Be Due to a Reversible Epigenetic Modification System Associated with Puberty, Menstrual Cycles, Pregnancy and Lactation, and, Ultimately, Menopause? Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:3866. [PMID: 38612676 PMCID: PMC11011715 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25073866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2024] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
For much of human evolution, the average lifespan was <40 years, due in part to disease, infant mortality, predators, food insecurity, and, for females, complications of childbirth. Thus, for much of evolution, many females did not reach the age of menopause (45-50 years of age) and it is mainly in the past several hundred years that the lifespan has been extended to >75 years, primarily due to public health advances, medical interventions, antibiotics, and nutrition. Therefore, the underlying biological mechanisms responsible for disease risk following menopause must have evolved during the complex processes leading to Homo sapiens to serve functions in the pre-menopausal state. Furthermore, as a primary function for the survival of the species is effective reproduction, it is likely that most of the advantages of having such post-menopausal risks relate to reproduction and the ability to address environmental stresses. This opinion/perspective will be discussed in the context of how such post-menopausal risks could enhance reproduction, with improved survival of offspring, and perhaps why such risks are preserved. Not all post-menopausal females exhibit risk for this set of diseases, and those who do develop such diseases do not have all of the conditions. The diseases of the post-menopausal state do not operate as a unified complex, but as independent variables, with the potential for some overlap. The how and why there would be such heterogeneity if the risk factors serve essential functions during the reproductive years is also discussed and the concept of sets of reversible epigenetic changes associated with puberty, pregnancy, and lactation is offered to explain the observations regarding the distribution of post-menopausal conditions and their potential roles in reproduction. While the involvement of an epigenetic system with a dynamic "modification-demodification-remodification" paradigm contributing to disease risk is a hypothesis at this point, validation of it could lead to a better understanding of post-menopausal disease risk in the context of reproduction with commonalities may also lead to future improved interventions to control such risk after menopause.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Hart
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Kinesiology, and McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1, Canada
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Hart DA. Towards understanding how bisphosphonate-dependent alterations to nutrient canal integrity can contribute to risk for atypical femoral fractures: Biomechanical considerations and potential relationship to a real-world analogy. Bioessays 2024; 46:e2300117. [PMID: 38059881 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202300117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Bisphosphonates are a class of drugs which have shown good efficacy in the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis, as well as a good safety profile. However, side-effects such as risk for atypical femoral fractures (AFF) have appeared, leading to a decline in use of the drugs by many patients who would benefit from the treatment. While patient characteristics have contributed to improved understanding of risk factors, the mechanisms involved that explain AFF risk have not appeared. Recently, the possibility that the mechanism(s) involved drug-induced modification of cells of the nutrient canals of the femur and subsequent compromise in the bone matrix has been published. The present Hypothesis article builds on the concept presented earlier and expands into biomechanical considerations. An analogy of the mechanisms involved to a real-life scenario is also presented. While this analogy has limitations, consideration of the biomechanical implications of progressive alterations to defects presented by compromised nutrient canal-bone matrix also presents potential relationships with AFF risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Hart
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Kinesiology, McCaig Institute for Bone, & Joint Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Bukreeva I, Gulimova VI, Krivonosov YS, Buzmakov AV, Junemann O, Cedola A, Fratini M, Maugeri L, Begani Provinciali G, Palermo F, Sanna A, Pieroni N, Asadchikov VE, Saveliev SV. The Study of the Caudal Vertebrae of Thick-Toed Geckos after a Prolonged Space Flight by X-ray Phase-Contrast Micro-CT. Cells 2023; 12:2415. [PMID: 37830629 PMCID: PMC10572532 DOI: 10.3390/cells12192415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The proximal caudal vertebrae and notochord in thick-toed geckos (TG) (Chondrodactylus turneri, Gray, 1864) were investigated after a 30-day space flight onboard the biosatellite Bion-M1. This region has not been explored in previous studies. Our research focused on finding sites most affected by demineralization caused by microgravity (G0). We used X-ray phase-contrast tomography to study TG samples without invasive prior preparation to clarify our previous findings on the resistance of TG's bones to demineralization in G0. The results of the present study confirmed that geckos are capable of preserving bone mass after flight, as neither cortical nor trabecular bone volume fraction showed statistically significant changes after flight. On the other hand, we observed a clear decrease in the mineralization of the notochordal septum and a substantial rise in intercentrum volume following the flight. To monitor TG's mineral metabolism in G0, we propose to measure the volume of mineralized tissue in the notochordal septum. This technique holds promise as a sensitive approach to track the demineralization process in G0, given that the volume of calcification within the septum is limited, making it easy to detect even slight changes in mineral content.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inna Bukreeva
- Institute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome Unit, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (I.B.); (O.J.); (A.C.); (M.F.)
- P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskiy Prospekt 53, 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Victoria I. Gulimova
- Avtsyn Research Institute of Human Morphology of Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution, “Petrovsky National Research Centre of Surgery”, Tsyurupy Str. 3, 117418 Moscow, Russia;
| | - Yuri S. Krivonosov
- Federal Scientific Research Centre “Crystallography and Photonics”, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskiy Prospekt 59, 119333 Moscow, Russia (V.E.A.)
| | - Alexey V. Buzmakov
- Federal Scientific Research Centre “Crystallography and Photonics”, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskiy Prospekt 59, 119333 Moscow, Russia (V.E.A.)
| | - Olga Junemann
- Institute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome Unit, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (I.B.); (O.J.); (A.C.); (M.F.)
- Avtsyn Research Institute of Human Morphology of Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution, “Petrovsky National Research Centre of Surgery”, Tsyurupy Str. 3, 117418 Moscow, Russia;
| | - Alessia Cedola
- Institute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome Unit, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (I.B.); (O.J.); (A.C.); (M.F.)
| | - Michela Fratini
- Institute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome Unit, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (I.B.); (O.J.); (A.C.); (M.F.)
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306/354, 00142 Roma, Italy
| | - Laura Maugeri
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306/354, 00142 Roma, Italy
| | - Ginevra Begani Provinciali
- Institute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome Unit, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (I.B.); (O.J.); (A.C.); (M.F.)
- Physics Department, ‘Sapienza’ University, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy
- Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée, CNRS, ENSTA Paris, Ecole Polytechnique IP Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France
| | - Francesca Palermo
- Institute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome Unit, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (I.B.); (O.J.); (A.C.); (M.F.)
| | - Alessia Sanna
- Institute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome Unit, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (I.B.); (O.J.); (A.C.); (M.F.)
| | - Nicola Pieroni
- Institute of Nanotechnology, CNR, Rome Unit, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; (I.B.); (O.J.); (A.C.); (M.F.)
| | - Victor E. Asadchikov
- Federal Scientific Research Centre “Crystallography and Photonics”, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskiy Prospekt 59, 119333 Moscow, Russia (V.E.A.)
| | - Sergey V. Saveliev
- Avtsyn Research Institute of Human Morphology of Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution, “Petrovsky National Research Centre of Surgery”, Tsyurupy Str. 3, 117418 Moscow, Russia;
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