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Probiotics and bone disorders: the role of RANKL/RANK/OPG pathway

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Abstract

The skeleton is the framework and in charge of body configuration preservation. As a living tissue, bones are constantly being formed and absorbed. Osteoblasts and osteoclasts are the main bone cells and balance between their activities indicates bone health. Several mechanisms influence the bone turnover and RANKL/RANK/OPG pathway is one of them. This system, whose components are part of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, exists in many organs and could play a role in bone modeling and remodeling. RANKL/RANK pathway controls osteoclasts activity and formation. In addition, they are identified as key factors on bone turnover in different pathological situations. At the same time, OPG (RANKL’s decoy receptor) plays role as a bone-protective factor by binding to RANKL and prevention of extra resorption. The lack of balance between RANKL and OPG could result in excessive bone resorption. Probiotics, the beneficial microorganisms for human health, entail bones in their advantages. Recent studies suggest that probiotics could reduce inflammatory factors (for example TNF-α and IL-1β) and increase bone OPG expression. In addition, probiotics have shown to maintain bones in various ways. Although current evidence is not enough for definitive approval of probiotics’ efficacy on RANKL/RANK/OPG, its positive responses from conducted studies are significant. Understanding of the probiotics’ effects on RANKL/RANK/OPG pathway will help focus future studies, and assist in developing efficient treatment strategies.

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  1. Negin Amin and Virginia Boccardi have equally contributed to this work.

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  1. Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran

    Negin Amin, Mohsen Taghizadeh & Sadegh Jafarnejad

  2. Section of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Virginia Boccardi

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Amin, N., Boccardi, V., Taghizadeh, M. et al. Probiotics and bone disorders: the role of RANKL/RANK/OPG pathway. Aging Clin Exp Res 32, 363–371 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-019-01223-5

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