Dr. Charles Y.C. Pak, senior author of the study and director of UT Southwesterns Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Research, described the study as a landmark.
"It represents the molecular elucidation of a clinical syndrome," Pak said. "It is the result of 30 years of work on a clinical syndrome and its molecular explanation."
The study involved 212 participants: 80 unrelated AH patients and 132 "normal" volunteers. The AH patients were diagnosed at the Center for Mineral Metabolism and Clinical Researchs kidney stone clinic. In the control group, volunteers with any personal or family history of stone disease, osteoporosis, history of abnormal serum parathyroid hormone (which helps control calcium and phosphate balance in the body), or abnormal calcium were excluded from the study.
The study provides a definite marker for kidney-stone risk, but it also could lead to early-stage identification and treatment for bone loss and osteoporosis, Gitomer said. As part of the study, patients bone mineral density in the lower spine was measured, and the presence of one or more of the six base changes was associated with lower vertebral bone density in the lumbar region.
"If you look at the population, if people ever form a stone, theyre probably at greater risk of bone loss or osteoporosis," Gitomer said.
Pak, who led the development of Citracal, an over-the-counter calcium citrate supplement, said the findings could help identify people at high risk for bone loss before the bone loss becomes evident. While osteoporosis is most frequent in postmenopausal women, in whom estrogen loss is the primary cause, some children, pre-menopausal women and younger men suffer from idiopathic osteoporosis, or osteoporosis of unknown cause.
"I think many
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Contact: Wayne Carter
Wayne.Carter@UTSouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
11-Apr-2002