Fundamentals Of Osteoporosis

"This volume covers a comprehensive series of topics from structural parameters of bone to development of the skeleton, differentiation of the bone cell lineages, bone matrix and its mineralization, and the multiple kinds and levels of regulation that influence all of these. Well-covered are what I will call intrinsic regulators, e.g. the specific cells and their genes, transcription factors, matrix components, receptors, and extrinsic - even if locally produced - regulators, e.g. cytokines, hormones, growth factors, mechanical forces and the often complex regulatory networks that result and control development, growth and aging of bone and its turnover in health and disease.

There is something for expert and novice alike in this volume, and the chapters overall deal well with and make quite accessible the explosion of information that has occurred in all areas of bone biology. Beyond a couple of chapters that deal explicitly with important fundamental concepts and issues related to defining what osteoporosis or osteoporotic bone is, many of the others address how advances in basic bone biology have contributed to the understanding of osteoporosis and other bone diseases and have pointed towards new therapeutics.

The chapters appropriately and clearly identify gaps and directions for new research and almost all are nicely sprinkled with helpful tables, graphs, photomicrographs or other images, and summary schematics. This book provides authoritative and comprehensive coverage of most of the main current topics in bone biology."

--Jane E. Aubin, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada