Osteoblasts and Adipocytes

It has been established that osteoblasts and adipocytes differentiate from the same precursors mesenchymal stem cells. Hence, presence of adipose tissue in bone marrow has been linked with bone fragility. Patsch JM et al. has tried to look further, the presence of various fat components in bone marrow and its relation to fragility fractures.

MR spectroscopy can differentiate between component of adipose tissues and gives additional information about metabolic status of bone tissue. When BMD using DXA/QCT was compared with bone marrow fat component, study revealed that fracture and type 2 diabetes were associated with low bone marrow unsaturated fat and high bone marrow saturated fat levels.

Data suggested that there exists significant link between fracture history and altered bone marrow fat composition. Though, numbers of patients enrolled in this study were small, but it has definitely given an avenue for further research in the field of non-invasive modality to assess risk of fractures other than DXA.

For further detail please read following article:

Janina M Patsch, Xiaojuan Li, Thomas Baum, Samuel P Yap, Dimitrios C Karampinos, Ann V Schwartz, and Thomas M Link. Bone Marrow Fat Composition as a Novel Imaging Biomarker in Postmenopausal Women With Prevalent Fragility Fractures. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 28; 2013:1721–1728.