BoFraM project

The main intention of the project BoFraM (Changes in bone structure and composition leading to increased fracture risk in aged population with chronic comorbidities ) is to explore the reasons for higher bone fragility and bone fracture risk in patients with prevalent chronic comorbidities ( obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and chronic liver diseases). Indeed, both the number of aged patients with these conditions and the incidence of bone fractures are rising in Serbia and worldwide. This project focuses on the morphological and compositional reasons for increased bone fragility in such patients, with the final goal to allow a better estimation of the fracture risk in clinical settings. 

The project uses an innovative and ambitious approach through an integrative assessment of bone structure on various length scales: detecting deficits in bone micro- and nanostructure responsible for bone weakening beyond the limited abilities of clinical imaging and establishing links between these results and clinical tools aimed to assess the fracture risk and other clinical data.  The availability of obtained data will likely improve our understanding of the pathophysiological basis of bone deterioration in the aged population with obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and chronic liver diseases. Giving substantial assistance from preclinical research to clinicians, the progress in the estimation of the failure load and fracture risk will be facilitated, making the platform for better therapeutic interventions.