In the latest research that highlights sex-based disease and disorder differences between males and females, researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Davis believe they have figured out how females’ bones remain strong during breastfeeding, even when high calcium demand for milk production induces significant bone loss.

These findings, as do other very recent publications on sex differences, highlight the importance of including both male and female animals/samples in scientific studies to achieve a full understanding of biology and the pivotal role of original preclinical research to advance sex and gender within precision medicine.

The most recent Nature article, entitled “A maternal brain hormone that builds strong bone”, discusses a newly discovered brain-derived hormone, known as maternal brain hormone (or CCN3), that increases bone density and strength in breastfeeding females, thus ensuring species survival in mammals.

These results establish MBH as a potential therapeutic osteoanabolic hormone for both bone fracture healing and osteoporosis treatment. Worldwide more than 200 million people suffer from osteoporosis and women are at particularly high risk, especially after menopause because of declining levels of estrogen.

The Women’s Brain Foundation has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles on sex-based differences since its founding in 2016. We are delighted to see these new works and are eager to see more.

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