Limestone particle sizes and lighting regimens on egg and bone quality of laying hens

Abstract:The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of limestone particle sizes in the diet and of lighting regimes on the egg and bone quality and on the performance of commercial laying hens. Three hundred Hissex White layers, at 18 weeks of age, were distributed in a completely randomized design, in a 5×2 factorial arrangement (coarse limestone in the diet at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%; with or without artificial light), with five replicates of six birds. No significant interaction was observed between particle sizes and lighting regime for the evaluated parameters. There was no significant effect of coarse limestone level in the diet on the performance and egg quality of hens; however, bone deformity (3.23 to 4.01 mm), strength (5.19 to 6.70 kgf cm-2), and mineral matter (51.09 to 59.61%) improved as the proportion of coarse limestone increased. For lighting regime, the treatment with artificial light yielded higher Haugh unit values (87.17 vs. 85.54) than that with natural light only. Greater limestone particles improve bone quality of laying hens, and the use of artificial light can benefit the albumen quality of the eggs.

Three-Dimensional (3D) Microarchitecture Correlations with 2D Projection Image Gray-Level Variations Assessed by Trabecular Bone Score Using High-Resolution Computed Tomographic Acquisitions: Effects of Resolution and Noise.

The aim of the present study is to determine the level of correlation between the 3-dimensional (3D) characteristics of trabecular bone microarchitecture, as evaluated using microcomputed tomography (μCT) reconstruction, and trabecular bone score (TBS), as evaluated using 2D projection images directly derived from 3D μCT reconstruction (TBSμCT). Moreover, we have evaluated the effects of image degradation (resolution and noise) and X-ray energy of projection on these correlations. Thirty human cadaveric vertebrae were acquired on a microscanner at an isotropic resolution of 93μm. The 3D microarchitecture parameters were obtained using MicroView (GE Healthcare, Wauwatosa, MI). The 2D projections of these 3D models were generated using the Beer-Lambert law at different X-ray energies. Degradation of image resolution was simulated (from 93 to 1488μm). Relationships between 3D microarchitecture parameters and TBSμCT at different resolutions were evaluated using linear regression analysis. Significant correlations were observed between TBSμCT and 3D microarchitecture parameters, regardless of the resolution. Correlations were detected that were strongly to intermediately positive for connectivity density (0.711≤r(2)≤0.752) and trabecular number (0.584≤r(2)≤0.648) and negative for trabecular space (-0.407 ≤r(2)≤-0.491), up to a pixel size of 1023μm. In addition, TBSμCT values were strongly correlated between each other (0.77≤r(2)≤0.96). Study results show that the correlations between TBSμCT at 93μm and 3D microarchitecture parameters are weakly impacted by the degradation of image resolution and the presence of noise.

Prediction of hip fracture risk by quantitative ultrasound in more than 7000 Swiss women > or =70 years of age: comparison of three technologically different bone ultrasound devices in the SEMOF study.

To compare the prediction of hip fracture risk of several bone ultrasounds (QUS), 7062 Swiss women > or =70 years of age were measured with three QUSs (two of the heel, one of the phalanges). Heel QUSs were both predictive of hip fracture risk, whereas the phalanges QUS was not. INTRODUCTION: As the number of hip fracture is expected to increase during these next decades, it is important to develop strategies to detect subjects at risk. Quantitative bone ultrasound (QUS), an ionizing radiation-free method, which is transportable, could be interesting for this purpose. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Swiss Evaluation of the Methods of Measurement of Osteoporotic Fracture Risk (SEMOF) study is a multicenter cohort study, which compared three QUSs for the assessment of hip fracture risk in a sample of 7609 elderly ambulatory women > or =70 years of age. Two QUSs measured the heel (Achilles+; GE-Lunar and Sahara; Hologic), and one measured the heel (DBM Sonic 1200; IGEA). The Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the hazard of the first hip fracture, adjusted for age, BMI, and center, and the area under the ROC curves were calculated to compare the devices and their parameters. RESULTS: From the 7609 women who were included in the study, 7062 women 75.2 +/- 3.1 (SD) years of age were prospectively followed for 2.9 +/- 0.8 years. Eighty women reported a hip fracture. A decrease by 1 SD of the QUS variables corresponded to an increase of the hip fracture risk from 2.3 (95% CI, 1.7, 3.1) to 2.6 (95% CI, 1.9, 3.4) for the three variables of Achilles+ and from 2.2 (95% CI, 1.7, 3.0) to 2.4 (95% CI, 1.8, 3.2) for the three variables of Sahara. Risk gradients did not differ significantly among the variables of the two heel QUS devices. On the other hand, the phalanges QUS (DBM Sonic 1200) was not predictive of hip fracture risk, with an adjusted hazard risk of 1.2 (95% CI, 0.9, 1.5), even after reanalysis of the digitalized data and using different cut-off levels (1700 or 1570 m/s). CONCLUSIONS: In this elderly women population, heel QUS devices were both predictive of hip fracture risk, whereas the phalanges QUS device was not.

Official Positions for FRAX® clinical regarding prior fractures from Joint Official Positions Development Conference of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry and International Osteoporosis Foundation on FRAX®.

The 2010 Position Development Conference addressed four questions related to the impact of previous fractures on 10-year fracture risk as calculated by FRAX(®). To address these questions, PubMed was searched on the keywords "fracture, epidemiology, osteoporosis." Titles of retrieved articles were reviewed for an indication that risk for future fracture was discussed. Abstracts of these articles were reviewed for an indication that one or more of the questions listed above was discussed. For those that did, the articles were reviewed in greater detail to extract the findings and to find additional past work and citing works that also bore on the questions. The official positions and the supporting literature review are presented here. FRAX(®) underestimates fracture probability in persons with a history of multiple fractures (good, A, W). FRAX(®) may underestimate fracture probability in individuals with prevalent severe vertebral fractures (good, A, W). While there is evidence that hip, vertebral, and humeral fractures appear to confer greater risk of subsequent fracture than fractures at other sites, quantification of this incremental risk in FRAX(®) is not possible (fair, B, W). FRAX(®) may underestimate fracture probability in individuals with a parental history of non-hip fragility fracture (fair, B, W). Limitations of the methodology include performance by a single reviewer, preliminary review of the literature being confined to titles, and secondary review being limited to abstracts. Limitations of the evidence base include publication bias, overrepresentation of persons of European descent in the published studies, and technical differences in the methods used to identify prevalent and incident fractures. Emerging topics for future research include fracture epidemiology in non-European populations and men, the impact of fractures in family members other than parents, and the genetic contribution to fracture risk.

Official Positions for FRAX® Bone Mineral Density and FRAX® simplification from Joint Official Positions Development Conference of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry and International Osteoporosis Foundation on FRAX®.

Tools to predict fracture risk are useful for selecting patients for pharmacological therapy in order to reduce fracture risk and redirect limited healthcare resources to those who are most likely to benefit. FRAX® is a World Health Organization fracture risk assessment algorithm for estimating the 10-year probability of hip fracture and major osteoporotic fracture. Effective application of FRAX® in clinical practice requires a thorough understanding of its limitations as well as its utility. For some patients, FRAX® may underestimate or overestimate fracture risk. In order to address some of the common issues encountered with the use of FRAX® for individual patients, the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) and International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) assigned task forces to review the medical evidence and make recommendations for optimal use of FRAX® in clinical practice. Among the issues addressed were the use of bone mineral density (BMD) measurements at skeletal sites other than the femoral neck, the use of technologies other than dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, the use of FRAX® without BMD input, the use of FRAX® to monitor treatment, and the addition of the rate of bone loss as a clinical risk factor for FRAX®. The evidence and recommendations were presented to a panel of experts at the Joint ISCD-IOF FRAX® Position Development Conference, resulting in the development of Joint ISCD-IOF Official Positions addressing FRAX®-related issues.

The micro-architecture estimation by TBS discriminate women with and without osteoporotic fracture independently of age, BMI and BMD: The Osteo-Mobile Vaud cohort study.

Introduction: « Osteo-Mobile Vaud » is a mobile osteoporosis (OP) screening program. The women > 60 years living in the region Vaud will be offered OP screening with new equipment installed in a bus. The main goal is to evaluate the fracture risk with the combination of clinical risk factors (CRF) and informations extracted by a single DXA: bone mineral density (BMD), vertebral fracture assessment (VFA), and micro-architecture (MA) evaluation. MA is yet evaluable in daily practice by the Trabecular Bone Score (TBS) measure. TBS is a novel grey-level texture measurement reflecting bone MA based on the use of experimental variograms of 2D projection images. TBS is very simple to obtain, by reanalyzing a lumbar DXA-scan. TBS has proven to have diagnosis and prognosis value, partially independent of CRF and BMD. A 55-years follow- up is planned. Method: The Osteo-Mobile Vaud cohort (1500 women, > 60 years, living in the region Vaud) started in July 2010. CRF for OP, lumbar spine and hip BMD, VFA by DXA and MA evaluation by TBS are recorded. Preliminary results are reported. Results: In July 31th, we evaluated 510 women: mean age 67 years, BMI 26 kg/m². 72 women had one or more fragility fractures, 39 had vertebral fracture (VFx) grade 2/3. TBS decreases with age (-0.005 / year, p<0.001), and with BMI (-0.011 per kg/m², p<0.001). Correlation between BMD and site matched TBS is low (r=0.4, p<0.001). For the lowest T-score BMD, odds ratio (OR, 95% CI) for VFx grade 2/3 and clinical OP Fx are 1.8 (1.1-2.9) and 2.3 (1.5-3.4). For TBS, age-, BMI- and BMD adjusted ORs (per SD decrease) for VFx grade 2/3 and clinical OP Fx are 1.9 (1.2-3.0) and 1.8 (1.2-2.7). The TBS added value was independent of lumbar spine BMD or the lowest T-score (femoral neck, total hip or lumbar spine). Conclusion: As in the already published studies, these preliminary results confirm the partial independence between BMD and TBS. More importantly, a combination of TBS and BMD may increase significantly the identification of women with prevalent OP Fx. For the first time we are able to have complementary information about fracture (VFA), density (BMD), and micro-architecture (TBS) from a simple, low ionizing radiation and cheap device: DXA. The value of such informations in a screening program will be evaluated.

Assessment of the 10-year probability of osteoporotic hip fracture combining clinical risk factors and heel bone ultrasound: the EPISEM prospective cohort of 12,958 elderly women.

This study aimed to develop a hip screening tool that combines relevant clinical risk factors (CRFs) and quantitative ultrasound (QUS) at the heel to determine the 10-yr probability of hip fractures in elderly women. The EPISEM database, comprised of approximately 13,000 women 70 yr of age, was derived from two population-based white European cohorts in France and Switzerland. All women had baseline data on CRFs and a baseline measurement of the stiffness index (SI) derived from QUS at the heel. Women were followed prospectively to identify incident fractures. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the CRFs that contributed significantly to hip fracture risk, and these were used to generate a CRF score. Gradients of risk (GR; RR/SD change) and areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) were calculated for the CRF score, SI, and a score combining both. The 10-yr probability of hip fracture was computed for the combined model. Three hundred seven hip fractures were observed over a mean follow-up of 3.2 yr. In addition to SI, significant CRFs for hip fracture were body mass index (BMI), history of fracture, an impaired chair test, history of a recent fall, current cigarette smoking, and diabetes mellitus. The average GR for hip fracture was 2.10 per SD with the combined SI + CRF score compared with a GR of 1.77 with SI alone and of 1.52 with the CRF score alone. Thus, the use of CRFs enhanced the predictive value of SI alone. For example, in a woman 80 yr of age, the presence of two to four CRFs increased the probability of hip fracture from 16.9% to 26.6% and from 52.6% to 70.5% for SI Z-scores of +2 and -3, respectively. The combined use of CRFs and QUS SI is a promising tool to assess hip fracture probability in elderly women, especially when access to DXA is limited.

Emerging paradigms and questions on pro-angiogenic bone marrow-derived myelomonocytic cells.

Cancer-related inflammation has emerged in recent years as a major event contributing to tumor angiogenesis, tumor progression and metastasis formation. Bone marrow-derived and inflammatory cells promote tumor angiogenesis by providing endothelial progenitor cells that differentiate into mature endothelial cells, and by secreting pro-angiogenic factors and remodeling the extracellular matrix to stimulate angiogenesis though paracrine mechanisms. Several bone marrow-derived myelonomocytic cells, including monocytes and macrophages, have been identified and characterized by several laboratories in recent years. While the central role of these cells in promoting tumor angiogenesis, tumor progression and metastasis is nowadays well established, many questions remain open and new ones are emerging. These include the relationship between their phenotype and function, the mechanisms of pro-angiogenic programming, their contribution to resistance to anti-angiogenic treatments and to metastasis and their potential clinical use as biomarkers of angiogenesis and anti-angiogenic therapies. Here, we will review phenotypical and functional aspects of bone marrow-derived myelonomocytic cells and discuss some of the current outstanding questions.

Prediction of rabbit meat and bone weight using measurements and sample cuts

Regression equations predicting dissectable muscle weight in rabbits from external measurements were presented. Bone weight and weight of muscle groups were also carcass predicted. Predictive capacity of external measurements, retail cuts and muscle groups on total muscle, percent muscle, total bone and muscle to bone ratio were studied separately. Measurements on dissected retail cuts should be included in ordcr to obtain good equations for prediction of percent muscle in the carcass. Equations for predicting the muscle to bone ratio using external mcasurcments and data from the dissection of one hind leg were suggested. The equations had generally high coefficients of determination. The coefficient of determination for prediction of dissectable muscle was 0.91, and for percent muscle in the carcass 0.79.

Update on osteoporosis from the 2014 Santa Fe Bone symposium.

The 2014 Santa Fe Bone Symposium provided a setting for the presentation and discussion of the clinical relevance of recent advances in the fields of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease. The format included oral presentations of abstracts by endocrinology fellows, plenary lectures, panel discussions and breakout sessions, with ample opportunities for informal discussions before and after scheduled events. Topics addressed in these proceedings included a review of the important scientific publications in the past year, fracture prevention in patients with dysmobility and immobility, fracture liaison services for secondary fracture prevention, management of pre-menopausal osteoporosis, the role of bone microarchitecture in determining bone strength, measurement of microarchitecture in clinical practice and methods to improve the quality of bone density testing. This is a report of the proceedings of the 2014 Santa Fe Bone Symposium.

Adjusting fracture probability by trabecular bone score.

The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of trabecular bone score on the probability of fracture above that provided by the clinical risk factors utilized in FRAX. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 33,352 women aged 40-99 years from the province of Manitoba, Canada, with baseline measurements of lumbar spine trabecular bone score (TBS) and FRAX risk variables. The analysis was cohort-specific rather than based on the Canadian version of FRAX. The associations between trabecular bone score, the FRAX risk factors and the risk of fracture or death were examined using an extension of the Poisson regression model and used to calculate 10-year probabilities of fracture with and without TBS and to derive an algorithm to adjust fracture probability to take account of the independent contribution of TBS to fracture and mortality risk. During a mean follow-up of 4.7 years, 1754 women died and 1639 sustained one or more major osteoporotic fractures excluding hip fracture and 306 women sustained one or more hip fracture. When fully adjusted for FRAX risk variables, TBS remained a statistically significant predictor of major osteoporotic fractures excluding hip fracture (HR/SD 1.18, 95 % CI 1.12-1.24), death (HR/SD 1.20, 95 % CI 1.14-1.26) and hip fracture (HR/SD 1.23, 95 % CI 1.09-1.38). Models adjusting major osteoporotic fracture and hip fracture probability were derived, accounting for age and trabecular bone score with death considered as a competing event. Lumbar spine texture analysis using TBS is a risk factor for osteoporotic fracture and a risk factor for death. The predictive ability of TBS is independent of FRAX clinical risk factors and femoral neck BMD. Adjustment of fracture probability to take account of the independent contribution of TBS to fracture and mortality risk requires validation in independent cohorts.

Self-Renewing Human Bone Marrow Mesenspheres Promote Hematopoietic Stem Cell Expansion.

Strategies for expanding hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) include coculture with cells that recapitulate their natural microenvironment, such as bone marrow stromal stem/progenitor cells (BMSCs). Plastic-adherent BMSCs may be insufficient to preserve primitive HSCs. Here, we describe a method of isolating and culturing human BMSCs as nonadherent mesenchymal spheres. Human mesenspheres were derived from CD45- CD31- CD71- CD146+ CD105+ nestin+ cells but could also be simply grown from fetal and adult BM CD45--enriched cells. Human mesenspheres robustly differentiated into mesenchymal lineages. In culture conditions where they displayed a relatively undifferentiated phenotype, with decreased adherence to plastic and increased self-renewal, they promoted enhanced expansion of cord blood CD34+ cells through secreted soluble factors. Expanded HSCs were serially transplantable in immunodeficient mice and significantly increased long-term human hematopoietic engraftment. These results pave the way for culture techniques that preserve the self-renewal of human BMSCs and their ability to support functional HSCs.

Trabecular bone score (TBS) as a new complementary approach for osteoporosis evaluation in clinical practice.

Trabecular bone score (TBS) is a recently-developed analytical tool that performs novel grey-level texture measurements on lumbar spine dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) images, and thereby captures information relating to trabecular microarchitecture. In order for TBS to usefully add to bone mineral density (BMD) and clinical risk factors in osteoporosis risk stratification, it must be independently associated with fracture risk, readily obtainable, and ideally, present a risk which is amenable to osteoporosis treatment. This paper summarizes a review of the scientific literature performed by a Working Group of the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis. Low TBS is consistently associated with an increase in both prevalent and incident fractures that is partly independent of both clinical risk factors and areal BMD (aBMD) at the lumbar spine and proximal femur. More recently, TBS has been shown to have predictive value for fracture independent of fracture probabilities using the FRAX® algorithm. Although TBS changes with osteoporosis treatment, the magnitude is less than that of aBMD of the spine, and it is not clear how change in TBS relates to fracture risk reduction. TBS may also have a role in the assessment of fracture risk in some causes of secondary osteoporosis (e.g., diabetes, hyperparathyroidism and glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis). In conclusion, there is a role for TBS in fracture risk assessment in combination with both aBMD and FRAX.