Vitamin D and bone metabolism in Graves' disease: a prospective study.

PURPOSE: Vitamin D and osteoporosis in Graves' disease (GD) have been examined in cross-sectional studies with divergent results. Here, we prospectively studied vitamin D metabolism and bone health in patients with newly diagnosed GD. METHODS: Thirty consecutive patients with de novo overt thyrotoxicosis diagnosed with GD were included. At diagnosis, none of the patients were treated with vitamin D or anti-osteoporotic drugs. All patients were initially treated with antithyroid drugs. Blood samplings were taken at baseline and at 6 weeks, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after treatment start. Serum levels of 25OHD3, 1,25OH2D3, calcium, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and C-terminal telopeptides of Type I collagen (CTX-I) were analysed. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at baseline, and 1 and 2 years after treatment initiation. RESULTS: At diagnosis, patients with GD did not have vitamin D deficiency. There were no significant correlations between levels of 25OHD3 and thyrotoxicosis. Upon treatment of the thyrotoxicosis, serum calcium fell transiently, and PTH and 1,25OH2D3 increased. 25OHD3 fell within the normal range and stabilised at 6 months. CTX-I fell over 12 months, BMD increased significantly up to 2 years, p = 0.002, < 0.001 and 0.005 in the spine, left total hip and left femoral neck, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present data underline that thyrotoxicosis has a negative impact on bone health and demonstrate fine-tuned dynamics in bone and vitamin D metabolism. Upon treatment, bone health improved over a follow-up period of 24 months despite rising PTH. Increased conversion of 25OHD3 to 1,25OH2D3 occurs during treatment of GD.

Radial Two-Dimensional Ion Crystals in a Linear Paul Trap.

We experimentally study two-dimensional (2D) Coulomb crystals in the "radial-2D" phase of a linear Paul trap. This phase is identified by a 2D ion lattice aligned entirely with the radial plane and is created by imposing a large ratio of axial to radial trapping potentials. Using arrays of up to 19 ^{171}Yb^{+} ions, we demonstrate that the structural phase boundaries of such crystals are well described by the pseudopotential approximation, despite the time-dependent ion positions driven by intrinsic micromotion. We further observe that micromotion-induced heating of the radial-2D crystal is confined to the radial plane. Finally, we verify that the transverse motional modes, which are used in most ion-trap quantum simulation schemes, are well-predictable numerically and remain decoupled and cold in this geometry. Our results establish radial-2D ion crystals as a robust experimental platform for realizing a variety of theoretical proposals in quantum simulation and computation.

Resorption of monetite calcium phosphate cement by mouse bone marrow derived osteoclasts.

Recently the interest for monetite based biomaterials as bone grafts has increased; since in vivo studies have demonstrated that they are degradable, osteoconductive and improve bone healing. So far osteoclastic resorption of monetite has received little attention. The current study focuses on the osteoclastic resorption of monetite cement using primary mouse bone marrow macrophages, which have the potential to differentiate into resorbing osteoclasts when treated with receptor activator NF-κB ligand (RANKL). The osteoclast viability and differentiation were analysed on monetite cement and compared to cortical bovine bone discs. After seven days live/dead stain results showed no significant difference in viability between the two materials. However, the differentiation was significantly higher on the bone discs, as shown by tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity and Cathepsin K gene expression. Moreover monetite samples with differentiated osteoclasts had a 1.4 fold elevated calcium ion concentration in their culture media compared to monetite samples with undifferentiated cells. This indicates active resorption of monetite in the presence of osteoclasts. In conclusion, this study suggests that osteoclasts have a crucial role in the resorption of monetite based biomaterials. It also provides a useful model for studying in vitro resorption of acidic calcium phosphate cements by primary murine cells.