Medical Research Council Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.
Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2009 Dec;7(4):140-4. doi: 10.1007/s11914-009-0024-1.
Osteoporosis is a major public health burden through associated fragility fractures. Bone mass, a composite of bone size and volumetric density, increases through early life and childhood to a peak in early adulthood. The peak bone mass attained is a strong predictor of future risk of osteoporosis. Evidence is accruing that environmental factors in utero and in early infancy may permanently modify the postnatal pattern of skeletal growth to peak and thus influence risk of osteoporosis in later life. This article describes the latest data in this exciting area of research, including novel epigenetic and translation work, which should help to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and give rise to potential public health interventions to reduce the burden of osteoporotic fracture in future generations.
骨质疏松症是一个重大的公共健康负担，因为它与脆性骨折有关。骨量是骨大小和体积密度的综合，在生命早期和儿童期增加，到成年早期达到峰值。达到的峰值骨量是未来骨质疏松症风险的一个强有力的预测指标。越来越多的证据表明，子宫内和婴儿早期的环境因素可能会永久改变骨骼生长的产后模式，从而影响晚年骨质疏松症的风险。本文描述了这一令人兴奋的研究领域的最新数据，包括新的表观遗传和翻译工作，这应该有助于阐明潜在的机制，并为未来减少骨质疏松性骨折负担的公共卫生干预措施提供依据。
