RESEARCH - Role of the immune system in postmenopausal bone loss

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Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2005 Sep;3(3):92-7.

Role of the immune system in postmenopausal bone loss.

Weitzmann MN, Pacifici R.

Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism & Lipids, Emory University School of

Medicine, WMRB 1305, 101 Woodruff Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.

mweitzm@....

Postmenopausal osteoporosis stems from estrogen deficiency. The mechanisms

by which estrogen deficiency drives bone destruction are complex and poorly

understood. Recent findings from animal models suggest that postmenopausal

bone loss may stem in large measure from a pathologic upregulation of the

adaptive immune response. While the role of activated T cells in the bone

loss driven by inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis has been

well documented, only recently has the role of T cells in the bone

destruction associated with estrogen deficiency begun to be appreciated. In

vivo and in vitro models of postmenopausal osteoporosis demonstrate that the

activation and expansion of tumor necrosis factor-a producing T cells is a

key step in estrogen deficiency driven bone loss and is regulated by

multiple interacting cytokines including transforming growth factor-b,

interleukin-7, and interferon-g, as well as by the process of antigen

presentation. This paper presents recent findings pertaining to this new

view of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

PMID: 16131428

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstra\

ct & list_uids=16131428 & itool=iconabstr & query_hl=2

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