The genetics of osteoporosis.

Abstract

Osteoporosis is the commonest metabolic bone disease worldwide. The clinical hallmark of osteoporosis is low trauma fracture, with the most devastating being hip fracture, resulting in significant effects on both morbidity and mortality. Data for this review have been gathered from the published literature and from a range of web resources. Genome-wide association studies in the field of osteoporosis have led to the identification of a number of loci associated with both bone mineral density and fracture risk and further increased our understanding of disease. The early strategies for mapping osteoporosis disease genes reported only isolated associations, with replication in independent cohorts proving difficult. Neither candidate gene or linkage studies showed association at genome-wide level of significance. The advent of massive parallel sequencing technologies has proved extremely successful in mapping monogenic diseases and thus leading to the utilization of this new technology in complex disease genetics. The identification of novel genes and pathways will potentially lead to the identification of novel therapeutic options for patients with osteoporosis.