How meals become bones

Amylin, a hormone produced along with insulin after food intake, is vital for strengthening bones, according to Dacquin et al. (page 509). A lack of amylin production in type I (autoimmune) diabetics may explain the prominent bone loss in these individuals—a problem that amylin replacement therapy may alleviate.

When food is short, strengthening bone may not be the body's top priority. But when the food arrives it is time to build up bone mass. After food enters the digestive tract, amylin is cosecreted with insulin from pancreatic islet cells, but there is no known function for amylin in glucose metabolism. In the new work, the authors found that mice lacking either one or both copies of the amylin gene have normal appetites, but exhibit low bone mass and an increased number of bone-chewing osteoclasts. Ex...