Bone-remodeling is the cellular process used by vertebrates
to maintain a nearly constant bone mass between the end of puberty
and the time of cessation of gonadal function.
Body weight, fertility, and bone formation are regulated, at
least in part, by the same hormone, leptin, which exerts its control
through hypothalamic pathways.
Bone-remodeling disorders such as osteoporosis are, in part,
hypothalamic diseases, and modulation of central signaling pathways
can be used to overcome the skeletal consequences of gonadal failure
and to potentially restore bone mass.
Bone mass is of critical importance for skeletal integrity and
skeletal function. A sufficient bone stock is required for locomotion,
for protection of inner organs, as a reservoir of vital ions, and
as the scaffold for skeletal repair and osteosynthesis. Bone-remodeling
is the physiological process used by vertebrates to maintain a constant
bone mass between the end of puberty and the time of cessation of
gonadal function. In addition to the well-characterized and critical
local regulation of bone-remodeling, a central control of bone formation
has been shown in recent genetic studies1.
This central regulation involves leptin, an adipocyte-secreted hormone
that controls body weight, reproduction, and bone-remodeling following
binding to its receptor located on hypothalamic nuclei. This novel physiological
concept may shed light on the etiology of osteoporosis and help
to identify new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of that
disease and its associated clinical problems, such as delayed fracture-healing.
Our understanding of the biology of the skeleton, like that of
virtually every other subject in biology, has been transformed by
recent advances in human, mouse, and chick genetics. These advances,
together with findings by embryologists studying chickens, have
radically enhanced our comprehension of the developmental biology
of the vertebrate skeleton2-4.
In contrast, we have added very little to our understanding of skeletal
physiology. Some of the many largely unanswered questions about
skeletal physiology include:
• Why and how do we stop growing?
• Why and how are bones and teeth the only organs to mineralize
under physiological conditions?
• Why is osteoporosis mainly a disease affecting women?
• How is bone mass maintained at a nearly constant level between
the end of puberty and the arrest of gonadal function?
This review will deal with the final question.
The two clinical observations that are the basis for this review
are that cessation of gonadal function favors the development of
osteoporosis while obesity protects against it. Our working hypothesis
has been that these two observations suggest that body mass, bone-remodeling,
and reproduction are somehow controlled by the same endocrine mechanisms.
Since body weight and reproduction are known to be controlled centrally,
it is reasonable to hypothesize that bone-remodeling may
be controlled centrally as well. In addition to the large body of
evidence indicating the existence of a local regulation of bone-remodeling
(which will not be discussed here), genetic evidence demonstrates
the existence of a central regulation of bone-remodeling; this evidence
is consistent with the concept that the two clinical observations
mentioned above are mechanistically linked1-5.
This central regulation is not accessory, as its modulation can
overcome the deleterious effect of cessation of gonadal function
on bone-remodeling and prevent osteoporotic bone loss.
If we examine our initial hypothesis that bone mass, body weight,
and reproduction share common regulatory pathways, how do the findings
in recent studies relate to the observation that cessation of gonadal
function favors osteoporosis and obesity protects against it? It
is well known that obese individuals display a state of leptin resistance.
The molecular basis of this leptin resistance remains poorly understood,
but it results in a partial functional deficiency of leptin, a situation
similar to that in the ob/+ and db/+ mice.
In vivo analysis of the role of leptin during
bone-remodeling has shown that bone-remodeling is as much
a centrally controlled process as it is a local one. This central
regulation is of paramount importance since its disruption is the
only known biological setting in which the deleterious consequences
of hypogonadism on bone metabolism are overcome. An implication
of this genetic finding is that the most typical and frequent bone-remodeling
disease—namely, osteoporosis—is partly a central
or hypothalamic disease. As such, the results of the studies noted
in this review may be viewed as establishing a novel paradigm in
our understanding of bone-remodeling. This does not mean,
however, that we now understand everything about bone-remodeling.
In particular, these findings cannot explain the low bone mass observed
in anorectic patients. Indeed, this shift of concepts raises more
questions than it answers. The identification of leptin as a powerful
inhibitor of bone formation has potential therapeutic implications.
Conceivably, since the high-bone-mass phenotype is dominant and
the obesity phenotype is recessive, it should be possible to design
drugs acting on this pathway that have a protective effect on skeletal
integrity without leading to obesity. Finally, leptin is unlikely
to be the only central regulator of bone formation and/or
bone mass. Other, yet to be discovered, centrally acting hormones
or neurotransmitters may positively or negatively regulate
bone formation, bone mass, and possibly other aspects of bone physiology,
such as bone resorption or even fracture-healing.
Note: The authors are grateful to Dr. G. Karsenty and Dr. P.
Ducy. The work on TK-mice and leptin was done in collaboration between
our laboratories. The results of this fruitful collaboration led
to the discovery of the central aspect of bone-remodeling.