Bone disease and cardiovascular disease often occur in concurrence and globally account for high morbidity and mortality. Rapidly growing evidence points towards mechanistic conjunctions between bone and the cardiovascular system. Bone is increasingly regarded as an endocrine organ that is closely interweaved with the cardiovascular system: bone metabolism is regulated by hemodynamic load and endothelial cells; vice versa, peptides secreted from bone cells are systemically active and affect cardiovascular risk factors, particularly atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension, and alter cardiac structure and function. However, exact and further mechanisms are only partially explained and evidence on the clinical relevance is inconclusive.

We invite authors to contribute original clinical research articles to extend existing knowledge on the bone-cardiovascular axis and its clinical relevance. We also encourage authors to submit review articles.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Interaction of bone-derived peptides (osteocalcin, FGF-23, etc.) with cardiomyocytes, vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, or other cardiovascular tissues
• Molecular pathways in bone-cardiovascular axes
• Epidemiological studies to investigate cardiovascular parameters as determinants of bone pathologies (e.g., osteoporosis, fractures, and altered bone metabolism)
• Epidemiological studies in patients with disease phenotypes predisposing to bone and cardiovascular diseases (e.g., with primary hyperparathyroidism, primary aldosteronism, vitamin D deficiency, heart failure, and kidney disease)
• Longitudinal epidemiological studies investigating associations between bone and cardiovascular disease
• Interventional studies elucidating the bone-cardiovascular axis
• Studies with drugs modulating (or possibly modulating) both bone and cardiovascular system