On Thursday 28 May 2020, N. Campos Obando will defend her PhD dissertation, entitled: ‘Bone and Phosphate in Relation to Health, Survival and Genetic Factors’.
Recent technological advances have provided a valuable set of tools in Imagenology and Pathology, among other disciplines, that have induced an unprecedent burst in our knowledge. Bone tissue has been no exception to this advances; in fact, the last decades have witnessed an ever growing knowledge in bone physiology and bone pathology fields. As a consequence, several concepts have gradually evolved, such as the old conceptualization of a) bone as solely a weight bearer and b) fractures as the only skeletal adverse effect when bone tissue is compromised. More recently, the notion of the intriguing evolution of bone from calcium-only aragonite to calcium-and-phosphate hydroxyapatite, has highlighted the tight association between bone tissue and calcium (Ca) but, in particular, between bone tissue and serum phosphate levels (P) – although this relationship is still not widely known, or acknowledged. Precisely, the first part of this thesis emphasizes on the adverse effects associated with both low bone mineral density (low BMD, not necessarily reaching the osteoporosis threshold) and increasing P levels. By far, we found evidence of a detrimental impact on health beyond fractures. Our data, derived mainly from the Rotterdam Study cohorts but also from MrOS USA, let it possible to conclude that several other outcomes are importantly impaired either when bone density decreases or when P levels increase. Some of these associations have been described previously, but some are hereby described in humans for the first time.
The PhD defences will not take place publicly in the Senate Hall or Professor Andries Queridoroom due to the coronavirus. The candidates will defend their thesis online.