A link between mitochondrial damage and osteoporosis

Medical XPress ^ | May 9, 2019 | by Katherine Unger Baillie, University of Pennsylvania

[ConservativeMind]

Some risk factors for osteoporosis such as being older and female or having a family history of the condition cannot be avoided. But others can, like smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol, taking certain medications, or being exposed to environmental pollutants. But until now researchers haven't gained a firm picture of how these exposures link up with bone loss.

A new study led by researchers from Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine reveals a mechanism by which these factors and osteoporosis may be linked. Damage to mitochondria—key cellular organelles and energy generators—leads to a surge in the creation of cells called osteoclasts, which are responsible for breaking down bone, the researchers report in FASEB Journal. They uncovered these effects in cells in culture as well as in an animal model.

"In a normal individual, the process of bone degradation and rebuilding proceeds in a very balanced way, but in some people they somehow produce a lot more osteoclasts, and this leads to bone loss and osteoporosis," said Narayan Avadhani, a biochemist at Penn Vet and senior author on the work. "We show in this paper that, when mitochondrial function is affected, it not only affects energy production but also triggers a type of stress signaling that induces the overproduction of osteoclasts."

Avadhani's lab has examined the effect of mitochondrial dysfunction on a variety of phenomena, including cancer and liver disease. Here, in collaboration with the lab of Mone Zaidi at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the scientists took a close look at how problems with mitochondria affected a type of immune cell known as macrophages.

[ConservativeMind]

There are some nutritional ways to deal with these cellular issues.

Ergothioneine in mushrooms (oyster, shiitake, maitake, etc.) is the easy way to dietarily amp up mitochondrial antioxidants to prevent damage from happening. As supplements, CoQ10 and ubiquinol (7x better absorbed than CoQ10) minimally help mitochondrial free radicals. MitoQ directly helps, but is expensive. PQQ actually makes new, young mitochondria spontaneously appear alongside damaged mitochondria. Nicotinamide riboside might help regenerate damaged mitochondria.

[Veto!]

I live close to Trader Joe and get some of my nutritional supplements there, including CoEnzyme Q-10 (Ubiquinone) 100 mg. I take about 10 different supplements a day and at 82, am actually stronger than I’ve ever been, easy to tell because I do weights at the gym at least 3x/week. Plus walk a fast mile every day, on the treadmill at gym, to the store on the other days. My doctor actually. prescribes supplements for me so they are deductible.

More on CoQ10 at Dr. Axe, who researches these things mainly at Oregon State University where they do the testing: https://draxe.com/all-about-coq10/

Veto! (The girl)

[Aria]

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[minnesota_bound]

Mitochondrial is what made the emperor so mean....

[Moonman62]

There are over 4000 mitochondria in a cardiac cell, and smaller but numerous amounts in other cells.

Since mitochondria originated as symbiotic bacteria, we are mostly made of bacteria. Think about that the next time you read a Florida Man story.

[ckilmer]

You can amp up the creation of mitochondria by
1.)sitting in a sauna.
2.)swimming in cold water
3.) HIIT High Intensity Interval Training
4.)Fasting
5.)Supplementation: NAD+, PQQ, COQ10

[ConservativeMind]

Excellent insights, sir!

I was only aware of HIIT possibly helping, seemingly through (or concurrent with) growth hormone release.

I now need to read up on those...

[June2]

Mitochondrial bkmk