The same protein that causes osteoporosis, i.e. the loss of calcium in bone, causes bone to form in the arteries, the discovery by the Renal Research Network (REDinREN) Institute of Health Carlos III, Ministry of Science and Innovation.

The results of this work, published in the latest issue of U.S. scientific journal ‘Circulation Research’, show that a protein called “RANKL” has a different effect on the cells of arteries in the bone.

While removes calcium from the bones, the protein “RANKL” increases bone formation in the arteries to trigger a mechanism that activates a bone-forming protein, called “Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4).

This can cause a great danger because the bone accumulate in the arteries or vascular calcification of arteries become more rigid, rather than remain flexible as they are usually to accommodate changes in blood pressure produced by the heart pumping.

This causes the pulse pressure rise producing a decompensation of blood pressure that causes malfunction of the heart and different organs and may ultimately even from death.

The research has been conducted by the staff of the Research Laboratory of Experimental Nephrology, University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova in Lleida (IRBLLEIDA), and was led by Dr. Jose Manuel Valdivielso and Elvira Fernandez.

The researchers observed in laboratory animals around the areas of the artery where arterial calcifications were located had an increased presence of the protein “RANKL”.

The importance of this finding is that makes it possible to develop a drug that would cancel out the harmful effects of the protein “RANKL”, i.e. create a drug that increases the calcification of bones for diseases such as osteoporosis and prevent the arteries to become rigid in diseases such as kidney disease, diabetes or just older people.