Milovanovic Petar, Busse Björn
Department of Osteology and Biomechanics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Laboratory for Anthropology and Skeletal Biology, Institute of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Endocr Connect. 2020 Apr;9(4):R70-R80. doi: 10.1530/EC-19-0531.
An increasing number of patients worldwide suffer from bone fractures that occur after low intensity trauma. Such fragility fractures are usually associated with advanced age and osteoporosis but also with long-term immobilization, corticosteroid therapy, diabetes mellitus, and other endocrine disorders. It is important to understand the skeletal origins of increased bone fragility in these conditions for preventive and therapeutic strategies to combat one of the most common health problems of the aged population. This review summarizes current knowledge pertaining to the phenomenon of micropetrosis (osteocyte lacunar mineralization). As an indicator of former osteocyte death, micropetrosis is more common in aged bone and osteoporotic bone. Considering that the number of mineralized osteocyte lacunae per bone area can distinguish healthy, untreated osteoporotic and bisphosphonate-treated osteoporotic patients, it could be regarded as a novel structural marker of impaired bone quality. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanism of lacunar mineralization and to explore whether it could be an additional target for preventing or treating bone fragility related to aging and various endocrine diseases.
全球范围内，越来越多的患者在遭受低强度创伤后发生骨折。此类脆性骨折通常与高龄和骨质疏松有关，但也与长期制动、皮质类固醇治疗、糖尿病及其他内分泌疾病相关。了解这些情况下骨脆性增加的骨骼起源对于制定预防和治疗策略以应对老年人群最常见的健康问题之一至关重要。本综述总结了有关微石化（骨细胞陷窝矿化）现象的现有知识。作为既往骨细胞死亡的指标，微石化在老龄骨和骨质疏松骨中更为常见。鉴于每骨面积矿化骨细胞陷窝的数量可区分健康、未经治疗的骨质疏松患者和接受双膦酸盐治疗的骨质疏松患者，它可被视为骨质量受损的一种新型结构标志物。需要进一步研究以阐明陷窝矿化的机制，并探索其是否可能成为预防或治疗与衰老及各种内分泌疾病相关的骨脆性的额外靶点。
