Evidence for Hypertension to Lead to Earlier Onset of Osteoporosis

Researchers here provide evidence for the raised blood pressure of hypertension to accelerate the progression of osteoporosis, the loss of bone density characteristic of old age, leading to an earlier onset of the condition. They speculate that inflammation is the mechanism of interest, based on the differences in outcome following induced hypertension in old mice, already suffering the inflammation of aging, versus induced hypertension in young mice. There are already many good reasons to work to minimize both chronic inflammation and any increase in blood pressure with age; more evidence for just how bad these aspects of aging are just reinforces that call to action. Researchers compared young mice with induced hypertension to older mice without hypertension to assess the potential relationship of hypertension to bone aging. A group of 12 young mice (4 months old) were given angiotensin II for six weeks, a hormone that leads to high blood pressure. A group of 11 older mice (16 months old) also received of angiotensin II for six weeks. Two control groups of 13 young mice and 9 old mice received a buffer solution that did not include angiotensin II, and these mice did not develop high blood pressure. After six weeks, researchers analyzed the bones of mice from all four groups using micro-computed tomography. When compared to the young mice without hypertension, the young mice with induced hypertension had a significant 24% reduction in bone volume fraction, an...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs