Abstract
Bones are an essential part of the human body, as they make up the skeletal system, providing structural equilibrium and protectiveness to our organs. Aging and some diseases threaten our skeletal system, resulting in increased chances of fractures. Specifically, Type II diabetics are more susceptible to bone fractures due to the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which are chemical crosslinks that form within bone protein. The disruption in bone’s collagen protein network can deteriorate the bone’s mechanical properties and lead to weakened tissue. In addition to understanding how AGEs deteriorate bones, it is important to test methods to reverse the harmful effects of AGEs. One such inhibitor is irisin. Irisin is a circulating myokine that is secreted by skeletal muscle during exercise. However, we do not know how irisin impacts bone AGEs and how it may impact bone’s overall quality. Our goal is to investigate how high sugar levels impact bone’s mechanical properties and whether irisin has the ability to counteract those effects. We hypothesize that bone incubated in high sugar and subsequently treated with irisin will have a lower quantity of AGEs and consequently improved mechanical properties than in non-treated bone.