Kruger M C, Horrobin D F
Department of Physiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Prog Lipid Res. 1997 Sep;36(2-3):131-51. doi: 10.1016/s0163-7827(97)00007-6.
Essential fatty acid (EFA)-deficient animals develop severe osteoporosis coupled with increased renal and arterial calcification. This picture is similar to that seen in osteoporosis in the elderly, where the loss of bone calcium is associated with ectopic calcification of other tissues, particularly the arteries and the kidneys. Recent mortality studies indicate that the ectopic calcification may be considerably more dangerous than the osteoporosis itself, since the great majority of excess deaths in women with osteoporosis are vascular and unrelated to fractures or other bone abnormalities. EFAs have now been shown to increase calcium absorption from the gut, in part by enhancing the effects of vitamin D, to reduce urinary excretion of calcium, to increase calcium deposition in bone and improve bone strength and to enhance the synthesis of bone collagen. These desirable actions are associated with reduced ectopic calcification. The interaction between EFA and calcium metabolism deserves further investigation since it may offer novel approaches to osteoporosis and also to the ectopic calcification associated with osteoporosis which seems to be responsible for so many deaths.
必需脂肪酸（EFA）缺乏的动物会出现严重的骨质疏松症，同时肾脏和动脉钙化增加。这种情况与老年人骨质疏松症相似，在老年人中，骨钙流失与其他组织（尤其是动脉和肾脏）的异位钙化有关。最近的死亡率研究表明，异位钙化可能比骨质疏松症本身危险得多，因为骨质疏松症女性中绝大多数额外死亡是血管性的，与骨折或其他骨骼异常无关。现已证明，必需脂肪酸可增加肠道对钙的吸收，部分原因是增强维生素D的作用，减少尿钙排泄，增加骨钙沉积，改善骨强度，并增强骨胶原蛋白的合成。这些有益作用与减少异位钙化有关。必需脂肪酸与钙代谢之间的相互作用值得进一步研究，因为它可能为骨质疏松症以及与骨质疏松症相关的异位钙化提供新的治疗方法，而这种异位钙化似乎是导致众多死亡的原因。
