Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Columbia University researchers have reversed age-related memory loss in mice by boosting blood levels of osteocalcin, a hormone produced by bone cells.

The study, published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, identified a receptor for osteocalcin in the brain to make way for a new approach to treating age-related cognitive decline.


"In previous studies, we found that osteocalcin plays multiple roles in the body, including a role in memory," Dr. Gerard Karsenty, a professor of medicine and chair of the Department of Genetics & Development at Columbia, said in a press release.

"We also observed that the hormone declines precipitously in humans during early adulthood. That raised an important question: Could memory loss be reversed by restoring this hormone back to youthful levels? The answer, at least in mice, is yes, suggesting that we've opened a new avenue of research into the regulation of behavior by peripheral hormones."

Researchers gave older mice continuous infusions of osteocalcin over a two-month period resulting in greatly improved performance in the mice on memory tests.

The team also injected older mice with osteocalcin-deficient blood plasma young mice, but they showed no memory improvements. Adding osteocalcin to the plasma before injecting it, however, did result in memory improvements, according to researchers.

Anti-osteocalcin antibodies were used to deplete the hormone from the plasma of younger mice resulting in reduced performance on memory tests.

Researchers determined that osteocalcin binds to a receptor called Gpr158 found in neurons of the CA3 region of the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain.