Biochemical Bone Markers During the Transition Period Are Not Influenced by Parenteral Treatment With a High Dose of Cholecalciferol but Can Predict Milk Fever in Dairy Cows

Despite being studied extensively, there are still many knowledge gaps in milk fever prevention and it is still a prevalent disease. Various interventions have been used in its prevention; however, none has proven to be entirely effective. The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of high dose vitamin D3 parenteral (intramuscularly) administration and the mechanism of its action by studying blood minerals and biochemical bone markers. Further, we assessed the potential of biochemical bone markers, measured in the close-up dry period, as predictors of clinical milk fever after calving. The study was conducted on 56 high yielding, clinically healthy dairy cows, before their 4th or higher lactation. They were divided into three groups based on season (summer and winter) and administration (vitamin D). The winter group was considered as the control group. Cows (n = 13) were parenterally administered a single dose of 10 million IU of vitamin D3 (DUPHAFRAL® D3) ranging between 10 and 2 days before calving (median = 3 days). Each cow was blood sampled once during four sampling period ranges: ~1 month before calving, 10 to 2 days before calving, 12–48 h after calving and 10–20 days after calving. The samples were analyzed for blood minerals, bone specific alkaline phosphatase (bALP) and C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTx), alkaline phosphatase, and estradiol. Values were compared between samplings and groups. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and logistic regression were used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of biochemical bone markers in predicting milk fever. In this study high dose vitamin D3 supplementation did not statistically reduced the incidence of milk fever (milk fever incidences were 15.4, 39.1, and 25% in the vitamin D, winter and summer groups, respectively). A significant effect of vitamin D3 administration on blood minerals or biochemical bone markers was not found at any sampling. We found that the use of biochemical bone markers in the close-up dry period to predict clinical milk fever was applicable only in the winter (housed) group. The area under the curve (AUC) for bALP was 0.804 and 0.846 for CTx using ROC analysis. The bALP curve had the best ratio at the cut-off point 13.85 U/L with 90% sensitivity and 64.3% specificity. While CTx had the ratio of 90% sensitivity and 78.6% specificity at the cut-off point 0.149 ng/mL. Close-up dry dairy cows with CTx ≥0.121 ng/mL had a 3.8 times higher chance of succumbing to milk fever. We were unable to prove that high dose vitamin D3 parenteral administration is a viable technique for milk fever prevention. Biochemical bone markers are a promising tool for predicting milk fever; however, further studies are needed to confirm their clinical use.

Relation of Steroid on Linear Growth Velocity with Biochemical Bone Markers in Children with Nephrotic Syndrome in a Teaching Hospital, Central Nepal

Background: Nephrotic Syndrome is the clinical manifestation of glomerular diseases associated with heavy (nephrotic range) proteinuria. This study was done to compare biochemical bone markers in nephrotic children on steroid therapy and the linear growth velocity in children with nephrotic syndrome receiving steroid with that of known available reference standard for children of same age and sex groups Methods: A hospital based comparative study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics, College Of Medical Sciences, Bharatpur, Nepal among 40 Study group and 40 Comparatvie group by taking the data from 2014 to 2018. Results: We found that in study group, the Mean Vitamin D of patients was 12.6293 ± 3.4974 which was low. Present study found that in Study group, the Mean serum Ca (Mean± SD.) of patients was 6.8000 ± .9672. In comparative group, the Mean serum Ca (Mean± SD.) of patients was 9.6907 ± .9218. Difference of Mean serum Ca vs. group was statistically significant (p<0.0001). Conclusions: We found that the Mean albumin significant lower in study group compared to comparative group but total cholesterolsignificant higher in study group. Vitamin D and calcium were low in Study group which was statistically significant.

Analysis of the Relationship between the Levels of Androgens and Biochemical Bone Markers in Men Aged 60–75 Years

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between the parameters of bone turnover and the levels of hormonal parameters, such as total testosterone (TT), bioavailable and free testosterone (FT), and estradiol (E2) in men. Material and methods: The study group included 63 men with testosterone deficiency syndrome (TDS). The control group consisted of 112 patients without TDS. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the levels of osteocalcin (OC), parathyroid hormone (PTH), E2, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), insulin (I), Serum CrossLaps (CtX-I), human procollagen I N-terminal peptide (PINP), and TT. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: The groups with TSD and without TDS differed in terms of the following parameters: body weight (p = 0.001), BMI (p = 0.003), TT (p = 0.001), FT (p = 0.004), bioavailable testosterone (p = 0.001), E2 (p = 0.003), SHBG (p = 0.003), and PINP (p = 0.004). In the group without TDS, higher PINP levels were accompanied by higher levels of E2 (beta = 0.360, p = 0.002) and TT (beta = 0.389, p = 0.001). In the group without TDS, PINP was positively correlated with E2 (beta = 0.726, p <0.001). Patients with TDS had significantly lower PINP levels (p < 0.004). Conclusions: Analysis of sex hormones and biochemical bone markers in reflecting the quality of the bone tissue in men may suggest a relationship between these parameters. Nevertheless, further research based on a larger sample size is necessary to better describe this relationship.

Evaluation of bone mineral density and its correlation with homocysteine and other biochemical bone markers in postmenopausal women

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Osteoporosis is more common in post-menopausal women. Early detection of bone loss by bone mineral density helps to confirm the diagnosis of osteoporosis and assesses the future risk of osteoporotic fractures. Recent studies have revealed the association between increased plasma concentrations of homocysteine (Hcy), and reduced bone mineral density. Nevertheless, inconsistencies persist in the literature. Thus, the need for this study arose to investigate the possible relationship between serum Hcy status and bone mineral density on a group of post-menopausal women.<strong> </strong>The objective of the study was to assess bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women and to correlate the same with biochemical bone markers like homocysteine, serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), calcium and phosphorous levels.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> One hundred (100) postmenopausal women were recruited to enter this cross-sectional study. Out of which 86 postmenopausal females, were grouped into osteopenic and osteoporotic based on low t –scores. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and serum Hcy, serum ALP, calcium and phosphorus levels were estimated. The relationship of Hcy with BMDand other biochemical markers was estimated using Pearson’s correlation.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Serum Hcy levels were significantly higher in osteoporotic women when compared to other BMD groups, and were inversely correlated with BMD. No statistical difference was seen with other biochemical bone markers like calcium, Phosphorus and ALP.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> This study shows that Hcy status is associated with BMD in osteoporotic postmenopausal women. BMD evaluation in postmenopausal women with high Hcy levels may have prognostic and therapeutic potentials, which needs to be explored through further Prospective studies.</p>