Scientists at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published research last Wednesday showing that a deficiency in vitamin D can accelerate premature bone aging by increasing the risk of fracture.
By examining bone structure and toughness, researchers concluded that a lack of vitamin D causes bones to prematurely age, as they are more brittle. The results of the research may lead to adapted treatment options for individuals with cases of vitamin D deficiency.
The body produces vitamin D when directly exposed to the sun, which is needed for bone growth and remodeling. Vitamin D can also be found in certain foods, such as fatty fish, beef liver, cheese and egg yolk.
The results of the research were published in an article entitled "Vitamin D Deficiency Induces Early Signs of Aging in Human Bone, Increasing the Risk of Fracture." The research was conducted by scientists at UC Berkeley and scientists from the department of osteology and biomechanics at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany.
Robert Ritchie, a professor of materials science and engineering at UC Berkeley and a faculty senior scientist at the Berkeley lab, headed the Berkeley portion of the collaboration, while Bjorn Busse headed the German portion.
"We were able to show that biomechanical properties do not only change through a reduction of bone mass but also that the remaining bone shows effects of aging with losses of its quality and fracture resistance," Busse wrote in an email.
The research team discovered that vitamin D deficiency increases the proneness to cracks from 22 to 31 percent. According to Ritchie, one in four men and two in four women over the age of 50 will experience a bone fracture in their remaining lifetime.
The risk of bone fracture - which can be fatal - increases dramatically as people age, especially in menopausal women.
Ritchie was able to discover bones deficient in vitamin D resembled bones of the elderly through his unique access to an extensive collection of bone sections taken from living and deceased persons.
"We were able to use our past experience in high resolution 3D to visualize the crack and were able to clearly observe the differences in interactions of the crack and microstructure," said Hrishikesh Bale, who worked closely with Ritchie in the research, in an email.
Bale said that the research was conducted in the hope of eventually finding a treatment for affected bones and preventing fractures among older people.
Contact Lydia Tuan at [email protected]
According to Ritchie, the research was interdisciplinary in approach and utilized both engineering and medical knowledge.
"This kind of work represents a boundary between the physical and biological sciences," Ritchie said. "There's a lot to be gained by engineers getting involved in medicine."
Published on : Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Category : Vitamin D
Post URL : http://internal-med.blogspot.com/2013/07/uc-berkeley-researchers-link-vitamin-d.html
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