Nearly 40% of women over the age of 65 are affected by osteoporosis, and this figure rises to more than 70% among women 80 years and over.
A more specifically feminine pathology therefore, especially after menopause, and with little therapeutic response. However, men are not spared.
“Men also suffer fractures due to bone fragility, particularly that of the upper end of the femur, we learn on the dedicated site All about osteoporosis run by Agem, a laboratory specializing in biotechnologies, and recommended by AFLAR, the French Antirheumatic Association. It turns out that the mortality rate one month after the occurrence of a fracture of the upper end of the femur is higher in men than in women..”
Women treated for hormone-dependent breast cancer are also at greater risk of osteoporosis, because they see their estrogen levels severely decrease due to treatments.
In women, as in men, the fractures following osteoporosis primarily affect the hip (femoral neck), the vertebrae and the wrist. A European study* estimates that the number of fractures due to osteoporosis will be around 610 000 cas in France in 2034.
Under these conditions, this discovery of American researchers published in the scientific journal Nature last July represents a major breakthrough and opens up previously unparalleled treatment prospects.
Osteoporosis affects 4 million women in France
Osteoporosis mainly affects women after menopause when their estrogen levels declines sharply. We know it. “Estrogens slow the breakdown of bone tissue and promote the formation of “new” bone. But at the time of menopauseestrogen levels plummet, causing accelerated bone loss for 5 to 10 years”, specifies Inserm.
Women followed for hormone-dependent breast cancer are also more at risk, because they see their estrogen levels drop severely due to treatments. It turns out that estrogen can also drop at another time: during breastfeeding. However, women do not develop osteoporosis when they breastfeed! It is this observation that led American researchers to take an interest in this hormone produced during breastfeeding and which seems to protect mothers: CCN3.
A new hormone capable of densifying bones
“At present, little is known about the mode of action of CCN3. It is known to directly stimulate bone formation by activating bone stem cells. These cells are therefore more numerous and differentiate to create bone more quickly. And finally, the spongy mass of the bone increases“, explains Dr. Thomas Ambrosi, researcher at UC Davis and co-author of the article at Sciences et Avenir which offers an article on the subject and relays the study. The work was certainly carried out on mice, but THE results are stunning ! In a few weeks, thanks to the increase in CCN3, female mice, including those deprived of estrogen, gained in strength and density bone.
Osteoporosis: soon new treatments?
Scientists will have to work harder to understand the mechanisms of action precision of the CCN3 hormone and thus be able to fully integrate it into treatment treatments prevention of osteoporosis. American researchers have already developed a patch capable of deliver the hormone continuously in the mice tested.
An avenue that is all the more promising since CCN3 hormone supplementation (via the patch) has not only made it possible to observe, as said above, an improvement in bone quality but has also shown its effectiveness in the repair fractures!
There is no doubt that CCN3 will very soon integrate active therapeutics for skeletal diseases.
