Newswise—A recent study by University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS) researchers shows that a type of blood protein we are all born with protects against osteoporosis, illuminating the potential for a novel approach to treatment.

Elena Ambrogini, MD, PhD—an assistant professor in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, part of the Department of Internal Medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine, and a staff physician at CAVHS—conducted the study with other UAMS and CAVHS faculty with the Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases.

Ambrogini used a genetically modified mouse developed at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where researchers conducted a related study that showed this protein also has a beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease, specifically atherosclerosis, in which plaque builds up inside the arteries.

The findings of the companion studies were published June 6 in prestigious scientific journals: the UAMS study in Nature Communications and the UCSD study in Nature.

“Together, the two studies provide proof-of-principle for a new therapy for two very common diseases, osteoporosis and atherosclerosis, simultaneously,” Ambrogini said. “In the case of osteoporosis, this would be a new anabolic therapy, meaning that it can build new bone as opposed to only preventing the loss of old bone.”

Everyone is born with innate immune antibodies that help fight bacteria and other pathogens. The study found that these antibodies protect against bone loss induced by a high-fat diet. Importantly, the UAMS researchers found that even in the absence of a high-fat diet, the levels of these antibodies decrease as mice grow older, which may contribute to age-related bone loss. By giving back these antibodies, Ambrogini was able stop the bone loss in the mice and build new bone.

Meanwhile, the UCSD researchers found that the same antibodies strongly protect against atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.

Robert L. Jilka, PhD, a coauthor on the study and professor of medicine, has been studying the relationship between atherosclerosis and osteoporosis for about 10 years.

“We have known for quite some time that there was some sort of connection between osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, and the high-fat diet,” Jilka said. “Investigators all over the world have been studying this for a while without much success as to the reason for this connection.”

This groundbreaking finding is the latest in 24 years of significant advances in the understanding of osteoporosis and other bone diseases because of research conducted at the Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases at UAMS and CAVHS.