J. Bollerslev et al., BIOCHEMICAL MARKERS OF BONE METABOLISM IN BENIGN HUMAN OSTEOPETROSIS - A STUDY OF 2 TYPES AT BASE-LINE AND DURING STIMULATION WITH TRIIODOTHYRONINE, European journal of endocrinology, 139(1), 1998, pp. 29-35
Biochemical markers of bone remodelling were used to evaluate bone tur
nover in two types of autosomal dominant osteopetrosis (ADO) at baseli
ne and during stimulation with triiodothyronine (T-3) Eight patients w
ith Type I (aged 23-61 years, mean 40.4 years) and nine patients with
Type II ADO (aged 20-49 years, mean 32.8 years) were compared with 10
normal controls (aged 22-54 pears, mean 35.4 years), The participants
were treated with 100 mu g T-3 daily for 7 days and followed for a tot
al of 16 weeks. Serum concentrations of T-3 increased and correspondin
g suppression of TSH was observed in all participants. Both formative
and resorptive bone markers were normal at baseline. After stimulation
with T-3 a significant increase was seen in all groups for the format
ive markers used. Secondary increments were observed at the end of the
observation period for all groups, indicating activation of bone remo
delling. A variety of resorptive markers was assessed, but no differen
ces between patients and controls were seen. After stimulation, highly
significant responses were found in all parameters in all groups, in
accordance with stimulation of existing resorptive cells, However, no
secondary increments were seen at the end of the observation period. A
more pronounced response was found in crosslinks-related assays. The
study demonstrates that it is possible to stimulate bone resorptive an
d formative cells with thyroid hormones in both types of ADO. Moreover
, it indicates that the remodelling process is activated by a short co
urse of T-3 treatment.