The News
A hormone discovered in lactating mice that seems to maintain strong bones has raised hopes for a treatment for osteoporosis. This bone-wasting disease can cause fractures and chronic pain, and it disproportionately affects women.
During breastfeeding, the body strips calcium from bones to provide infants essential nutrients in milk, and tamps down estrogen production, which also affects bone health.
Exactly why most women only undergo slight, temporary bone loss during lactation, despite both those factors, has been a mystery. Researchers found that a hormone called CCN3, only produced when breastfeeding, made the body strengthen bones, and that blocking it led to greater bone loss in mice.
Osteoporosis in older people, especially women, is a significant cause of injury, and while mice are not humans, the authors hope the findings could lead to treatments that boost bone strength.
