Abstract
BackgroundCirculating serum sclerostin levels are supposed to give a good estimation of the levels of this negative regulator of bone mass within bone. Most studies evaluating total serum sclerostin found different levels in males compared to females and in older compared to younger subjects. Besides an ELISA detecting total sclerostin an ELISA determining bioactive sclerostin has been developed. The aim of this study was to investigate serum levels of bioactive sclerostin in an Austrian population-based cohort.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional observational study in 235 healthy subjects. Using the bioactive ELISA assay (Biomedica) bioactive sclerostin levels were evaluated.ResultsSerum levels of bioactive sclerostin were higher in men than in women (24%). The levels correlated positively with age (r = 0.47). A positive correlation could also be detected with body mass index and bone mineral density.ConclusionUsing the ELISA detecting bioactive sclerostin our results are consistent with data in the literature obtained by different sclerostin assays. The determination of sclerostin concentrations in peripheral blood thus appears to be a robust parameter of bone metabolism.
Highlights
Diseases associated with high bone mass caused by mutation or deletion of the SOST gene led to the recognition of sclerostin [1, 2]
Using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) detecting bioactive sclerostin our results are consistent with data in the literature obtained by different sclerostin assays
The determination of sclerostin concentrations in peripheral blood appears to be a robust parameter of bone metabolism
Summary
Diseases associated with high bone mass caused by mutation or deletion of the SOST gene led to the recognition of sclerostin [1, 2]. Sclerostin inhibition was detected as a promising treatment option to preserve bone mass. Almost all investigations found higher sclerostin levels in males than in females [6,7,8,9]. Despite a few contradicting data [9, 10], most clinical studies detected an age-associated increase of serum levels of sclerostin [6, 11,12,13,14]. Other companies developed an assay, the majority of these studies used the quantitative sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by Biomedica; the company has developed a new, a bioactive sclerostin ELISA.
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