Suppression of NF-kappaB activation blocks osteoclastic bone resorption during estrogen deficiency.

Postmenopausal osteoporosis stems from an imbalance in osteoclastic bone resorption with respect to osteoblastic bone formation, a consequence of estrogen deficiency. The nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) signal transduction pathway is critical for osteoclast formation and resorption, and suppression of NF-kappaB activation has been shown to block bone resorption in vitro, and to ameliorate inflammatory bone loss in vivo. The use of NF-kappaB antagonists to blunt the bone loss associated with estrogen deficiency however, has not been previously reported. In this study, we investigated whether pharmacological suppression of NF-kappaB signaling protects mice against ovariectomy (ovx)-induced bone loss. Ovx mice were treated with the potent NF-kappaB inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) for 4 weeks and bone mineral density (BMD) and indices of bone structure quantitated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and mu-computed tomography (muCT). In vivo indices of bone resorption were quantitated in mouse serum using the biochemical marker C-terminal telopeptide of collagen (CTx). Our data revealed that NF-kappaB suppression significantly prevented ovx-induced bone destruction by preventing the increase in ovx-induced osteoclastic bone resorption. Our data suggest that NF-kappaB inhibitors may represent novel anticatabolic therapeutic agents for the amelioration of postmenopausal bone loss.

Strait K, Li Y, Dillehay DL, Weitzmann MN.

Division of Animal Resources, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.