Dickkopf-1 levels and serum Osteoprotegerin in women with Osteoporosis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In bone the Wnt signaling pathway has diverse roles in bone modeling and remodeling. Dickkopf related protein 1(DKK-1),as an end ogenous inhibitors of the canonical Wnt/–catenin path ways pecific to bone and Osteoprotegerin(OPG),have been demonstrated to be key molecules involved in bone erosion and bone remodeling.The present study aimedto evaluate DKK-1 and OPG in women with osteoporosis to predict activity and severity of this common disease. METHODS: The study population included 44 women with osteoporosis and 44 controls with normal bone mineral density (BMD). Serum levels of DKK-1 and OPG were measured by standard methods. RESULTS: The serum Dkk1 concentration in the osteoporosis group (2.91 ± 1.27) was significantly increased compared to the control group (2.07 ± 0.87) (P < 0.010). The serum concentration of OPG was significantly higher incontrol group than patients (4.70 ± 2.16 vs. 4.56 ± 1.21; P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Although the results of this study indicate that DKK-1 and OPG may play different roles in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis, the increase of DKK-1 level and its correlation with FN-BMD might be related to disease activity and bone remodeling in osteoporosis.

Keywords

• Osteoporosis
• Dickkopf-1
• Osteoprotegerin
• Bone mineral density