High blood pressure accelerates bone aging

The American Heart Association's 2022 Scientific Conference on Hypertension, held Sept.

High blood pressure and osteoporosis are common diseases, and people may suffer from both diseases

"Bone marrow is where new bone and new immune cells are produced

In the study, the researchers compared young mice with induced hypertension and older mice without hypertension to assess the potential relationship

Six weeks later, the researchers analyzed the bones

Compared with young mice that did not develop hypertension, the bone volume fraction of young mice inducing hypertension was significantly reduced by 24%, the thickness of the sea sponge bone trabecular located at the end of the long bone (such as the femur and spine) was significantly reduced by 18%, and the estimated failure force (i.

"The power of failure translates into weaker bones

In contrast, older mice injected with angiotensin-II did not show similar bone loss

"In these mice, having high blood pressure at a younger age, it basically ages the bones, just as they are 15-25 years older than humans

To assess the effects of inflammation on bone health in mice, the researchers analyzed the bone marrow

"The increase in active immune cells tells us that older mice are more inflamed overall, and that persistent inflammatory states, whether they have high blood pressure or not, can have an impact on

Hennen added that the findings may help researchers identify immune cells and mechanisms

Limitations of the study include that it is only descriptive, so more research is needed to study how different types of immune cells specifically contribute to bone loss