Inflammation has long been known to cause a variety of health problems. But now, emerging research is linking inflammatory proteins with changes in bone mineral density.
A 2025 study by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine at USC examined the associations between 650 proteins and annual measures of bone mineral density in 304 overweight and obese adolescents over an average of three years. The proteins found to be associated with bone mineral density were added to a protein pathway database.
The study authors found, upon inputting the proteins into the database, that many of the proteins associated with bone mineral density were involved in inflammatory and immune pathways. This builds on a body of existing research indicating that chronic inflammation can disrupt bone metabolism.
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