Bone health requires a balanced activity of assorted bone cell types including bone-forming osteoblasts and bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Osteoporosis occurs when osteoclasts dominate without adequate bone formation to compensate. In latest research published within the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, elevated blood levels of a certain chemokine, or small signaling protein, that promotes osteoclast formation were linked with the next risk of hip fracture in men.

The study included 55 men and 119 women who had experienced a hip fracture a mean of 6.3 years after their blood was collected. The participants were matched individually to controls who didn’t develop hip fractures.

Investigators observed higher blood levels of the chemokine CXCL9 within the pre-fracture blood samples of men with subsequent hip fractures compared with their non-fracture controls. No such difference was seen women.

The unexpected difference in the outcomes between men and girls in our study could also be explained by how changes in sex hormone levels during aging could influence the extent and effects of CXCL9 otherwise in older men and girls.”

Woon-Puay Koh, MBBS, PhD, corresponding writer, National University of Singapore (NUS)

“Our findings open the exciting possibility that early interventions targeting CXCL9 or CXCL9-CXCR3 signalling could possibly be helpful in stopping hip fractures in older men,” added co-corresponding writer Christoph Winkler, PhD, also from NUS.

Source:

Journal reference:

Phan, Q.T., et al. (2022) CXCL9 Predicts the Risk of Osteoporotic Hip Fracture in a Prospective Cohort of Chinese Men—A Matched Case–Control Study. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.4646.