我国学者发现骨质疏松会加剧认知功能衰退

南京大学医学院附属鼓楼医院科研团队发现，骨质疏松会加剧认知功能衰退，为临床上治疗阿尔茨海默症等神经退行性疾病提供了新思路。相关论文近期发表于国际学术期刊《自然·代谢》。

Chinese researchers have discovered that osteoporosis may impair cognitive function, providing a new approach for the clinical treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, according to the Nanjing University.
南京大学表示，我国学者发现骨质疏松会加剧认知功能衰退，为临床上治疗阿尔茨海默症等神经退行性疾病提供了新思路。

The discovery, made by a research team from the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital affiliated with the Medical School of the Nanjing University, has been published in the journal Nature Metabolism.
相关论文由南京大学医学院附属鼓楼医院科研团队发表于国际学术期刊《自然·代谢》上。

Previous research has shown that the bones of elderly patients with osteoporosis would release a key osteocyte-derived factor called sclerostin, said Jiang Qing, associate dean at the Medical School of the Nanjing University, adding that in the patient's blood and cerebrospinal fluid, the proportion of sclerostin are high.
南京大学医学院副院长蒋青表示，此前有研究显示，骨质疏松的老年患者，其骨骼会释放一种骨硬化蛋白。在患者的血液和脑脊液当中，骨硬化蛋白的比例均偏高。

The team have conducted more than six years of research on the intrinsic connection between sclerostin and the brain.
骨硬化蛋白和大脑之间有什么内在联系？对此团队开展了为期6年多的研究。

Mouse experiments show that sclerostin released by bone cells of aged mice can break through the blood-brain barrier, inhibit the signal transmission of central neurons, damage the plasticity and integrity of neuronal synapses, and cause a decline in the cognitive functions in mice, said Guo Baosheng, associate professor at the medical school.
南京大学医学院郭保生副教授介绍，小鼠实验显示，老年小鼠骨细胞分泌的骨硬化蛋白可以突破“血脑屏障”，抑制中枢神经元的信号传递，损伤神经元突触的可塑性和完整性，从而导致小鼠认知功能衰退。

In addition, in the Alzheimer's mouse model experiment, the researchers found that increasing the concentration of sclerostin could accelerate the formation of amyloid plaque and further exacerbate cognitive decline.
另外，在阿尔茨海默症小鼠模型实验中，研究人员发现，增加骨硬化蛋白浓度，淀粉样斑块形成速度加快，患病小鼠的认知功能也进一步恶化。

The research findings demonstrated that Alzheimer's patients with osteoporosis are at an increased risk of cognitive impairment, Guo said.
郭保生说，研究结果表明，患有骨质疏松症的阿尔茨海默症患者病情进一步加重的风险增加。