IBMS BoneKEy | Perspective
The bone-fat mass relationship: Laboratory studies
Jillian Cornish
Jessica L Costa
Dorit Naot
DOI:10.1138/20090395
Abstract
Over the past 20 years, a large number of clinical studies have shown a positive correlation between bone density and soft tissue mass. Furthermore, studies of fracture epidemiology have shown that low body weight is a risk factor for fractures. The greater mechanical load exerted on the skeleton by additional weight can only provide a partial explanation for the correlation between adipose tissue and the skeleton and a number of other physiological mechanisms operate in maintaining this correlation. Adipose tissue itself secretes factors known as “adipokines” that circulate and affect other target tissues. Levels of circulating adipokines vary with changes in food intake and weight, and there is evidence that numerous adipokines can regulate bone metabolism through direct and indirect mechanisms of action. Another source of hormones that regulate energy metabolism are β-pancreatic cells, which in obese states hypersecrete hormones with direct and indirect effects on bone. Hormones secreted from the gut are also likely to act as mediators of the bone-fat mass relationship, and in addition there is evidence for direct effects of ingested nutrients such as glucose and fatty acids on bone turnover. This review focuses mainly on results from laboratory studies investigating possible mechanisms involved in the positive relationship between bone mass and fat mass.
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