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Effects of estrogen therapy on bone marrow adipocytes in postmenopausal osteoporotic women

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Abstract

Summary

One-year treatment of osteoporotic postmenopausal women with transdermal estrogen resulted in significant decreases in bone marrow adipocyte volume and prevented increases in adipocyte number as compared to placebo-treated controls. Estrogen treatment also prevented increases in mean adipocyte size over 1 year.

Introduction

Aging is associated not only with bone loss but also with increases in bone marrow adipocytes. Since osteoblasts and adipocytes are derived from a common precursor, it is possible that with aging, there is a preferential “switch” in commitment of this precursor to the adipocyte over the osteoblast lineage. We tested the hypothesis that the apparent “age-related” increase in marrow adipocytes is due, at least in part, to estrogen (E) deficiency.

Methods

Reanalysis of bone biopsies from a randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving 56 postmenopausal osteoporotic women (mean age, 64 years) treated either with placebo (PL, n = 27) or transdermal estradiol (0.1 mg/d, n = 29) for 1 year.

Results

Adipocyte volume/tissue volume (AV/TV) and adipocyte number (Ad#) increased (by ∼20%, P < 0.05) in the PL group, but were unchanged (Ad#) or decreased (AV/TV, by −24%, P < 0.001) in the E group. E treatment also prevented increases in mean adipocyte size over 1 year.

Conclusions

These findings represent the first in vivo demonstration in humans that not only ongoing bone loss, but also the increase in bone marrow adipocyte number and size in postmenopausal osteoporotic women may be due, at least in part, to E deficiency.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Jean Sibonga, JSC Bone and Mineral Laboratory, USRA, NASA, Texas, for helpful discussions, Donna Jewison and Julie Burgess in the bone histomorphometry laboratory for help with locating the samples and archived data, and Kelly Hoey for technical assistance.

Conflicts of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Endocrine Research Unit and Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA

    F. A. Syed, M. J. Oursler, T. E. Hefferanm, J. M. Peterson, B. L. Riggs & S. Khosla

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  1. F. A. Syed
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  2. M. J. Oursler
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  3. T. E. Hefferanm
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  4. J. M. Peterson
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  5. B. L. Riggs
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  6. S. Khosla
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Khosla.

Additional information

Supported by NIH Grants AG004875 and AG028936.

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Syed, F.A., Oursler, M.J., Hefferanm, T.E. et al. Effects of estrogen therapy on bone marrow adipocytes in postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Osteoporos Int 19, 1323–1330 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-008-0574-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-008-0574-6

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