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Male hormone production occurs in the bones, study finds

Male hormone production occurs in the bones, study finds

The bones in men's bodies serve a much greater purpose than simply the "mere assembly of inert calcified tubes," says a new study out of Columbia University. Published in the journal Cell, the study says that a skeletal hormone known as osteocalcin helps maintain proper testosterone production in males, and that this bone function ensures that germ cells successfully mature into healthy sperm.

Building upon their previous research that found an important connection between the skeletal and reproductive systems, Gerard Karsenty and his colleagues once again decided to investigate the systems and found that osteoblasts, the bone-building cells responsible for osteocalcin production, spur the production of testosterone in the testes, which in turn increases male fertility.