Osteoclasts in bone regeneration under type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) affects hundreds of million people worldwide and the impaired bone healing is an important DM-related complication. Understanding how DM affects the activities of osteoclasts and the underlying mechanisms is crucial to the development of effective approaches for accelerating bone healing in DM condition. To date, however, the influence of DM on osteoclasts remains obscure and controversial. In this study, we established a type 2 DM (T2DM) alveolar bone defect model, which closely simulates the pathogenesis of human T2DM, to explore the diabetic osteoclast activity during bone regeneration. We found that a high glucose concentration diminished the formation of osteoclasts, and the differentiation and function of osteoclasts from T2DM rats were suppressed. The degradation of matrix by osteoclasts was significantly reduced at a high glucose concentration. In vivo experiments further indicated that T2DM inhibited osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activity, and delayed the degradation of matrix during the alveolar bone regeneration in T2DM rats. Our work clarifies the influence of T2DM on osteoclasts, and provides valuable insights for the design of novel scaffolding materials that target on osteoclasts for T2DM bone regeneration. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Impaired bone healing is one of the diabetes mellitus (DM)-related complications. Understanding how DM affects osteoclast activity and scaffolding matrix degradation is pivotal to the development of effective approaches for accelerating bone healing in DM condition. Currently, the influences of DM on osteoclast activity and matrix degradation in bone defect areas, however, remain controversial and obscure. Herein, we established a type 2 DM (T2DM) alveolar bone defect model and our results show that T2DM inhibited osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activity, and delayed the degradation of scaffolding matrix. Our work clarifies the influence of T2DM on osteoclasts and matrix degradation, and provides insights for the design of novel scaffolding materials that target on osteoclasts for T2DM bone regeneration.