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Circulating sclerostin and dickkopf-1 levels in ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine

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Abstract

Sclerostin and dickkopf-1(DKK1) are Wnt/β-catenin signal antagonists that play an important role in bone formation. Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) of the spine is characterized by pathological ectopic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament and ankylosing spinal hyperostosis. The aims of this study were to evaluate serum sclerostin and DKK1 levels in persons with OPLL and to identify its relationship with bone metabolism and bone mass in persons with OPLL. This was a case–control study, and 78 patients with OPLL were compared with 39 age- and sex-matched volunteers without OPLL. We analyzed the relationship with calciotropic hormones, bone turnover markers, OPLL localization, number of ossified vertebrae, and bone mineral density of total hip (TH-BMD). Serum sclerostin levels in men with OPLL were significantly higher than in men in the control group (control group: mean = 45.3 pmol/L; OPLL group: mean = 75.7 pmol/L; P = 0.002). Age and sclerostin levels were positively correlated in men with OPLL (r = 0.43; P = 0.002). Serum sclerostin levels in men with OPLL had a positive correlation with TH-BMD Z-score (r = 0.511; P = 0.011, n = 30). There was a strong negative correlation between serum sclerostin levels and serum DKK1 levels in men with OPLL (r = −0.506; P < 0.001). Bone and mineral metabolism in OPLL differs between men and women. In men with OPLL, systemic secretion of sclerostin increases with advancing age and with higher bone mass. These two Wnt/β-catenin signal antagonists have the opposite effect in persons with OPLL, and higher serum sclerostin levels are counterbalanced by underproduction of DKK1.

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Acknowledgments

Medical editor Katharine O’Moore-Klopf, ELS (East Setauket, New York, USA) provided professional English-language editing of this article before its final acceptance for publication.

Conflict of interest

This work was supported by a Grant-in-aid from the Investigation Committee on Ossification of the Spinal Ligaments, Japanese Ministry of Public Health, Labor. None of the authors has any financial interest with any of the commercial entities mentioned in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Masafumi Kashii, Yohei Matuso, Tsuyoshi Sugiura, Takahito Fujimori, Yukitaka Nagamoto, Takahiro Makino, Takashi Kaito, Kosuke Ebina, Motoki Iwasaki & Hideki Yoshikawa

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  1. Masafumi Kashii
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  2. Yohei Matuso
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  3. Tsuyoshi Sugiura
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Correspondence to Masafumi Kashii.

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Kashii, M., Matuso, Y., Sugiura, T. et al. Circulating sclerostin and dickkopf-1 levels in ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine. J Bone Miner Metab 34, 315–324 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-015-0671-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-015-0671-5

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