Weekly s.c. administration of teriparatide at a dose of 56.5 μg may provide another option of anabolic treatments in patients with osteoporosis at higher fracture risk.

A series of crocetin glycosides (crocins) are the main pigment of the stigmas of saffron (Crocussativus L.) and the fruits of gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis). Although numerous studies have demonstrated that crocetin and crocins have a variety of biological functions, the metabolism of dietary crocetin and crocins remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the intestinal absorption of orally administered crocetin and crocins in mice. Orally administered crocetin was rapidly absorbed into the blood circulation and was present in plasma as an intact free form and as glucuronide conjugates (crocetin-monoglucuronide and -diglucuronide). Crocetin and its glucuronide conjugates were also found in crocins-administered mouse plasma, whereas intact crocins (glycoside forms) were not detected. These results indicate that orally administered crocins are hydrolyzed to crocetin before or during intestinal absorption, and absorbed crocetin is partly metabolized to mono- and diglucuronide conjugates.

Context:Denosumab 60 mg sc injection every 6 months for 36 months was well tolerated and effective in reducing the incidence of vertebral, nonvertebral, and hip fracture in predominantly Caucasian postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.Objective:The objective of this phase 3 fracture study was to examine the antifracture efficacy and safety of denosumab 60 mg in Japanese women and men with osteoporosis compared with placebo.Design and Setting:A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with an open-label active comparator as a referential arm was conducted.Patients:Subjects were 1262 Japanese patients with osteoporosis aged 50 years or older, who had one to four prevalent vertebral fractures.Intervention:Subjects were randomly assigned to receive denosumab 60 mg sc every 6 months (n = 500), placebo for denosumab (n = 511), or oral alendronate 35 mg weekly (n = 251). All subjects received daily supplements of calcium and vitamin D.Main Outcome Measure:The primary endpoint was the 24-month incidence of new or worsening vertebral fracture for denosumab vs placebo.Results:Denosumab significantly reduced the risk of new or worsening vertebral fracture by 65.7%, with incidences of 3.6% in denosumab and 10.3% in placebo at 24 months (hazard ratio 0.343; 95% confidence interval 0.194–0.606, P = .0001). No apparent difference in adverse events was found between denosumab and placebo during the first 24 months of the study.Conclusion:These results provide evidence of the efficacy and safety of denosumab 60 mg sc every 6 months in Japanese subjects with osteoporosis.

SUMMARY:In this study, we isolated and characterized a murine counterpart of the human Arpp (hArpp) gene. Sequence analysis revealed that the murine Arpp (mArpp) gene is almost identical to the Ankrd2 gene, which has recently been isolated as a mouse gene induced in stretched skeletal muscle. The mArpp gene encodes a protein of 332 amino acids that contains four well-conserved ankyrin-repeat domains in the central portion of the protein. The amino acid sequence of mArpp protein (mArpp) is highly homologous to that of mouse cardiac-restricted ankyrin-repeat protein (Carp), which is proposed to be a putative genetic marker for cardiac hypertrophy. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that mArpp is preferentially expressed in type 1 skeletal muscle fibers, and that mArpp is localized in both the nucleus and the sarcomeric I-band of muscle fibers, suggesting that Arpp may function as a nuclear and sarcomeric protein. Furthermore, mArpp was also expressed in neurons of the cerebellum and cerebrum, the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, and the esophageal epithelium, suggesting that mArpp may play a functional physiologic role in brain, pancreas, and esophagus as well as in type 1 muscle fibers. Interestingly, although mArpp was localized in both nucleus and cytoplasm in neurons, its localization was restricted to nucleus in pancreas and esophagus, suggesting that intracellular localization of mArpp is regulated in a tissue-specific manner. Furthermore, we found that mArpp-and Carpexpression in skeletal muscle were markedly up-regulated after denervation. Although the elevated expression level of Carp was kept only for two weeks after denervation, that of Arpp was kept at least for 4 weeks, suggesting that mArpp and Carp may play distinct functional roles in denervated skeletal muscle. (Lab Invest 2002, 82:645-655).

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