WHOLE BODY AND REGIONAL BONE MINERAL CONTENT AND DENSITY IN WOMEN AGED 20-75 YEARS

Skeletal Muscle Mass Recovery Early After Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation in Patients With Advanced Systolic Heart Failure

BACKGROUND

Patients with advanced systolic heart failure are at risk of unintentional weight loss and muscle wasting. It has been observed that left ventricular assist device (LVAD) recipients gain weight after device implantation, although it is unknown whether this represents skeletal muscle mass gains. We aimed to determine whether skeletal muscle mass increases early during LVAD support.

METHODS

We prospectively recruited 30 adults with systolic heart failure ±21 days from LVAD implantation. Participants underwent whole-body dual X-ray absorptiometry to measure fat free mass, appendicular lean mass (ALM, lean mass in the arms and legs) and fat mass. Dual X-ray absorptiometry imaging was repeated at 3 and 6 months after LVAD implantation, with participation ending after the 6-month visit or heart transplantation, whichever occurred first. Changes in body composition were evaluated using mixed effects linear regression models.

RESULTS

The cohort was 87% male, with mean age 56±12 (SD) years, and mean body mass index 26.4±5.4 kg/m2. Per sarcopenia ALM criteria, 52% of participants had muscle wasting at baseline. At baseline, mean fat free mass and ALM were 56.4±11.7 and 21.0±5.3 kg, respectively. Both measures increased significantly (P<0.001) over 6 months of LVAD support: mean fat free mass change at 3 and 6 months: 2.3 kg (95% CI, 1.0-3.5) and 4.2 kg (95% CI, 2.2-6.1); mean ALM change at 3 and 6 months: 1.5 kg (95% CI, 0.7-2.3) and 2.3 kg (95% CI, 0.9-3.6).

CONCLUSIONS

Among LVAD recipients with advanced systolic heart failure and high baseline prevalence of muscle wasting, there were significant gains in skeletal muscle mass, as represented by dual X-ray absorptiometry fat free mass and ALM, over the first 6 months of LVAD support.

Particulate Air Pollution and Osteoporosis: A Systematic Review

Air pollution is associated with inflammation and oxidative stress, which predispose to several chronic diseases in human. Emerging evidence suggests that the severity and progression of osteoporosis are directly associated with inflammation induced by air pollutants like particulate matter (PM). This systematic review examined the relationship between PM and bone health or fractures. A comprehensive literature search was conducted from January until February 2021 using the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library databases. Human cross-sectional, cohort and case-control studies were considered. Of the 1500 papers identified, 14 articles were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The air pollution index investigated by most studies were PM2.5 and PM10. Current studies demonstrated inconsistent associations between PM and osteoporosis risk or fractures, which may partly due to the heterogeneity in subjects' characteristics, study design and analysis. In conclusion, there is an inconclusive relationship between osteoporosis risk and fracture and PM exposures which require further validation.

Relationship between osteoporosis, multiple fractures, and egg intake in healthy elderly

Context:

The role of dietary patterns in the prevention of osteoporosis has been investigated in many studies, but few have examined the association between consumption of specific food and whole-body (WB) bone mineral density (BMD). Recent evidence suggests that whole eggs contain bioactive compounds that could have beneficial effects on BMD. BMD is also expressed as the T-score, which is used for the clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis and to evaluate the effectiveness of drugs.

Aims:

We conducted a study to assess the association between eggs consumption and bone density in a population of the elderly.

Settings and Design:

This cross-sectional study included 176 individuals of both genders and aged ≥65 years.

Subjects and Methods:

Egg intake was ascertained by a combination of dietary intake assessment, and a dual X-ray absorptiometry scan was performed to measure WB T-score.

Results:

In our study, among all the food groups and nondietary factors evaluated, we find a positive association between the WB T-score and egg consumption (B = 0.02; P = 0.02), gender (B = 0.85; P < 0.001), and body mass index (B = 0.04; P = 0.03). Multiple fractures were associated with the daily intake of eggs (B = ‒0.26; P = 0.02) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (B = 0.09; P = 0.03).

Conclusions:

This study provides novel evidence of a positive link between whole egg consumption and bone health. If results observed in this study will be confirmed through future randomized controlled trials, whole eggs may represent a viable strategy to prevent osteoporosis and reduce the risk of fractures in the elderly.