Bone geometry is correlated with arterial stiffness in overweight older adults with vitamin D insufficiency

Alexander Rodriguez et al. published in Endocrine Abstracts.

Effects of vitamin D supplementation on inflammatory markers in heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Alexander Rodriguez et al. published in Scientific Reports.

Read article here.

Lower muscle tissue is associated with higher pulse wave velocity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational study data

Alexander Rodriguez et al. published in Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology.

Read article here.

Monash PhD students recognised at the Australia New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society’s annual meeting

Alexander Rodriguez, Dr Jasna Aleksova and
Prof Peter Ebeling at the AMZBMS scientific meeting

School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health PhD students Alexander Rodriguez and Dr Jasna Aleksova received prestigious awards from the Australia New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society (ANZBMS) in Brisbane last week.

Alexander received the 2017 Christine & T. Jack Martin Research Travel Grant, an award in memory of Christine Martin that also honours the outstanding and major scientific contributions of Professor T. Jack Martin to bone and mineral research.

Alexander will use the $15,000 grant to travel to Odense, Denmark to work with Professor Bo Abrahamsen from the University of Southern Denmark.

“My current research investigates how bone and muscle loss can effect cardiovascular risk in old age, and I plan to collaborate with Professor Abrahamsen to examine how anti-osteoporosis therapies, which we think are helping us by making our bones healthier, may actually have harmful cardiovascular side-effects,” Alexander said.

“I hope that this research will enable us to identify who is at least cardiovascular risk from these medications and thus avoid potential adverse events whilst still remaining on osteoporosis treatment.”

Alexander’s supervisor and Head, Department of Medicine Professor Peter Ebeling AO said this research comes at a critical time, as two anti-osteoporosis drugs, strontium ranelate and odanacatib, have recently been withdrawn from the market because of cardiovascular safety concerns.

“Alexander’s research will help us understand who may be better suited to the many different treatment options available and by targeting therapy to increase benefit and to reduce potential harm,” Professor Ebeling said.

Fellow PhD student in the Bone and Muscle Research Group and Monash Health Endocrinologist, Dr Jasna Aleksova, won the Professor Philip Sambrook Young Investigator Travel Award which is awarded to an outstanding early career scientist or clinical researcher.

Dr Aleksova’s research evaluates novel risk factors associated with fractures in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and those with kidney transplants.

“These patients have a high burden of fractures and associated mortality, however, the current diagnostic tools used to evaluate patients with osteoporosis are less useful in patients with CKD,” Dr Aleksova said.

“CKD now affects one in ten Australians so urgent strategies are needed to identify and treat those at highest risk of fracture.”

“My research focuses on the role of hypogonadism in CKD and post-transplantation and the validation of novel imaging techniques, including the trabecular bone score and structural hip analyses, to better predict patients who are at the greatest risk of fracture,” she said.

Dr. Aleksova will use this grant to present some of her work at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research annual meeting in Denver later this year where she will also be meeting with potential collaborators from Columbia University.

Senior Research Fellow Dr David Scott also from the Bone and Muscle Research Group had his abstract ‘Sarcopenic obesity is associated with lower tibial cortical area and thickness and poor physical function in community-dwelling older adults’ selected for an oral presentation at the ANZBMS scientific meeting last week.

Dr Scott said his study demonstrates that important indicators of bone quality, which are usually improved in obese individuals, may be compromised if muscle quality is also poor.

“The findings highlight the need for specific assessments and interventions to target bone health in obese older adults,” Dr Scott said.

Pain, quality of life and safety outcomes of kyphoplasty for vertebral compression fractures: report of a task force of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

Alexander Rodriguez et al. published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Read article here.

Monash researchers advance our understanding of cardiovascular disease in older age

Professor Ebeling, Dr Sabashini Ramchand and Alexander Rodriguez
at the ENDO annual meeting

In a world-first, Monash researchers have shown the impact of low bone density on cardiovascular health.

Monash University PhD student Alexander Rodriguez was selected to present his research into the links between bone loss and cardiovascular disease at the 99^th Annual Scientific Meeting and Expo (ENDO) of the Endocrine Society in Orlando, USA last month, the world’s largest event for presenting and obtaining the latest research in endocrine science and medicine.

Alexander’s research focusses on determining the effect of bone density and calcification on the cardiovascular system.

“Currently we understand that with advancing age we lose bone density and subsequently our blood vessels become ‘calcified’, where calcium material is deposited in blood vessels,” Alexander said.

 “My study showed that calcification places an extra burden on our hearts as it tries to pump out blood—we call this ‘cardiac workload’.”

“My research has shown for the first time a relationship between this phenomenon and low bone density,” Alexander said.

“I think these results are useful in that cardiac workload is very simply quantified and may be used to indicate underlying macrovascular disease which may significantly benefit clinical practice.”

Senior study author and Head, Department of Medicine at the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health Professor Peter Ebeling said there is growing interest in understanding how bone loss effects our hearts and blood vessels and Alexander’s findings are one further piece in the puzzle.

“Bones are dynamic organs and great attention needs to be given to poor bone health and how this can affect other aspects of our health,” said Professor Ebeling, who is also Chair of Medicine at Monash Health.

“I am very proud of Alexander in securing an oral presentation at ENDO as this conference is the largest in endocrinology and was attended by nearly 9000 delegates.”

Alexander was also selected to attend a pre-conference workshop called the “Early Career Forum” for young scientists identified as future research leaders.

Alexander’s results were published in the prestigious bone journal Osteoporosis International http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00198-017-4024-1

Exercise, vitamin D and musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health study

PhD student Alexander Rodriguez and BMedSc Honours Student Cecilia Xu from the Bone and Muscle Health Research Group are conducting a randomised controlled trial investigating if vitamin D enhances the benefits of exercise for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health in middle-aged and overweight older adults with low vitamin D status.

The study will measure bone density, body composition and aortic calcification on DXA (a type of X-ray) as well as a number of physical performance and strength indicators.

Participants will be randomly allocated to12 weeks of taking vitamin D supplements or a placebo, and all participants subsequently complete 12 weeks of exercise which includes one supervised class at the Monash Medical Centre (Clayton) and two classes at home per week. Instruction and telephone guidance and support is given to all participants throughout the study.

All participants will be provided with the results of their body composition and cardiovascular assessments as well as have all transport costs reimbursed.  

Eligibility criteria include being aged between 50 and 80 years; having a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 40 kg/m² and having low vitamin D (which is measured at Monash Medical Centre).

If you, your patients, family members or friends might be interested in this study, please contact Alexander or Cecilia:

Phone: 8572 2919

 Email: med-DEx_study@monash.edu

Alexander alexander.rodriguez@monash.edu

Cecilia clxu1@sudent.monash.edu

Monash research team gives hope to patients with spinal factures

Alexander Rodriguez and Dr Jasna Aleksova
at the ASBMR annual scientific meeting

Monash researchers made significant contributions towards improving pain management associated with spinal fractures at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) annual scientific meeting last month in Atlanta.

Chair of Medicine at Monash Health and Head, Department of Medicine at Monash University Professor Peter Ebeling led the ASBMR Taskforce reporting on vertebral augmentation and was joined by his PhD students Dr Jasna Aleksova and Mr Alexander Rodriguez at the Georgia World Congress Centre in Atlanta.

“1.5 million vertebral compression fractures (fracture in the spine) occur every year in the USA and there is a similar high prevalence in Australia,” said Alexander. 

“Current therapies are inadequate as they only treat the pain rather than the
underlying fracture causing the pain.”

Alexander said their research showed that kyphoplasty (a type of surgery that restores cracked vertebrae in the spine by inflating a balloon and then injecting cement into the vertebral body) is effective at relieving pain and disability compared to standard therapy of pain medications and physical therapy.  However, kyphoplasty was not more effective than other types of surgical interventions for painful vertebral fractures.

“These findings are significant because clinicians will now have an evidence base in which to discuss treatment options with their patients,” said Alexander.

The research team’s findings form part of the ASBMR Taskforce on Vertebral Augmentation, which is being compiled as the Society’s clinical guideline for clinicians and patients.

First year PhD student and Monash Health endocrinologist, Dr Aleksova, was selected from a highly competitive international cohort of researchers to attend the Endocrine Fellows Forum on Metabolic Bone Disorders prior to the ASBMR annual scientific meeting.

“Participating at the conference was an incredible opportunity to learn from international experts as well as meet and discuss research ideas and aspirations on an individual level,” said Dr Aleksova.

Fellow member of the ASBMR Taskforce and PhD student Alexander has co-authored a meta-analysis on outcomes of kyphoplasty to treat back pain from compression fractures in the spine. His study formed the bulk of the Taskforce report on kyphoplasty presented at the meeting.

“I’m very proud of both Jasna and Alex,” said Professor Ebeling.

“They both acquitted themselves with great professionalism and were not daunted by the size of the ASBMR meeting and rose to new challenges—they both have bright futures ahead in clinical practice and research, with growing international networks.” 

Effect of weight loss induced by energy restriction on measures of arterial compliance: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Alexander Rodriguez et al. published in Atherosclerosis.

Read article here.

Low Relative Lean Mass is Associated with Increased Likelihood of Abdominal Aortic Calcification in Community-Dwelling Older Australians

Alexander Rodriguez et al. published in Calcified Tissue International

Read article here.

Monash Bone and Muscle Research team in Malaga, Spain

Professor Peter Ebeling delivering plenary lecture

School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health PhD student Alexander Rodriguez and senior post-doctoral researcher Dr David Scott who were recently awarded competitive ESCEO-AgNovos Healthcare Young Investigator Awards have returned from the 2016 World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteopenia and Musculoskeletal Research (WCO-IOF-ESCEO) in Malaga, Spain.

Alexander and Dr Scott each presented two posters at the world's largest conference on osteoporosis and musculoskeletal disease while Head of the Bone and Muscle Research Group Professor Peter Ebeling delivered a plenary lecture on vitamin D, the immune response and infection.

"I found the conference very stimulating and it was great to put faces to names of authors I have cited," said Alexander.

Dr David Scott, Professor Peter Ebeling,
Alexander Rodriguez outside the Malaga
Automobile Museum for the Awards reception.

The conference was attended by nearly 4000 delegates, including some of the biggest names in osteoporosis and musculoskeletal research.

"On a professional level the conference was rewarding as I had some interest in my poster on low muscle mass and aortic calcification and am now in conversation with a potential collaborator from Denmark in conducting a similar analysis," said Alexander.

Alexander Rodriguez, Dr David Scott,
Alexander's parents and Professor Ebeling

Originally from Malaga, Spain, Alexander's parents travelled with Alexander on a family reunion and hosted a dinner for the SCS research team.

Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Measures of Arterial Stiffness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Alexander Rodriguez et al. published in Clinical Endocrinology.

Read article here.

SCS Bone and Muscle Research has global reach - Department of Medicine researchers receive grant to attend WCO-IOF-ESCEO conference

Dr David Scott

Congratulations senior post-doctoral researcher Dr David Scott and PhD student Alexander Rodriguez who have been awarded competitive grants to attend the world's largest conference on osteoporosis and musculoskeletal disease.

The ESCEO-AgNovos Healthcare Young Investigator Awards, each valued at €2500, will enable the Bone and Muscle Health group researchers to attend the the 2016 World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteopenia and Musculoskeletal Research (WCO-IOF-ESCEO) in Malaga, Spain in April.

Alexander Rodriguez

Dr Scott is investigating associations of sarcopenic-obesity with bone mineral density and incident falls and fractures among older men while Alexander is undertaking a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of vitamin D on measures of arterial stiffness.  

Head of the Bone and Muscle Research Group Professor Peter Ebeling will deliver a plenary lecture on vitamin D, the immune response and infection at the conference.

The conference represents a combined meeting between The International Osteoporosis Federation and The European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis making this conference the largest osteoporosis meeting in the world.