Expression of osteogenesis regulatory genes in the bone tissue of patients with acromegaly and endogenous hypercorticism

Abstract

Excessive hormone secretion during hypercorticism and acromegaly results in significant disturbances in bone remodeling, decrease in bone quality, and bone fractures following small traumas. However, the mechanisms of the development of such changes are not clear. In the present study, we examined specimens of bone tissue from patients with endogenous hypercorticism (increased cortisol secretion) and acromegaly (increased growth hormone secretion) obtained during transnasal adenomectomy. Our main purpose was to analyze the expression of genes responsible for osteogenesis in the bone tissue specimens from patients with hypercorticism and acromegaly, targeting an assessment of pathogenetic aspects associated with bone complications. The study included 19 specimens of bone tissue from patients with pituitary tumors (samples with acromegaly, Cushing disease, and inactive pituitary adenomas; the latter served as a control group). We revealed 14 genes (ACP5, ALPL, BGLAP, BMP7, CD40, COL1A1, COL1A2, IGF1, IGFBP2, IL6, LEP, LTA, MMP2, WNT10B) which appeared to be the most important and require further detailed study. The present study confirmed the key role of the Wnt-signaling pathway in the osteogenic process. In addition, we present new data on molecular mechanisms of development of skeletal complications in the case of cortisol and growth hormone oversecretion in humans.