Elevated CCL2/MCP-1 Levels are Related to Disease Severity in Postmenopausal Osteoporotic Patients.
BACKGROUND
Chemokine (C-C) ligand-2 (CCL2), also named monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), is an important chemotactic factor involved in a wide range of diseases. Recent studies have shown that CCL2/MCP-1 plays crucial roles in the osteoclastogenic process. The current study was performed to measure serum CCL2 levels in postmenopausal osteoporotic patients and investigate the relationship between CCL2 concentrations in serum and disease severity in postmenopausal osteoporotic patients.


METHODS
A total of 62 postmenopausal osteoporotic female patients (PMOP group), 68 postmenopausal non-osteoporotic female patients (PMNOP group), and 65 healthy women of childbearing age (Control group) were enrolled in the study. The calcaneal quantitative ultrasound was utilized to conduct bone mineral density (BMD) measurements, confirmed at the left femoral neck, greater trochanter, total hip, and L1 - L4 lumbar spine by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Serum CCL2, TNF-α as well as IL-6 levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Estrogen-2 (E2) was measured with radioimmunoassay. The Visual Analogue Scores (VAS) was utilized to assess the extent of pain in PMOP.


RESULTS
We demonstrated for the first time that CCL2 levels were increased in postmenopausal women compared with controls. We also found that elevated CCL2 levels were linked with decreased BMD and attenuated E2 concentrations. In addition, CCL2 levels were positively correlated with inflammation markers TNF-α, IL-6, and VAS scores.


CONCLUSIONS
CCL2 in serum serves as a potential biomarker for reflecting disease severity in postmenopausal osteoporotic patients. Therapeutic interventions that target CCL2 and its related signaling pathways in order to delay osteoporosis development deserve further study.
Xian-Wen
XW
Yang
Xue-Si
XS
Wang
Fu-Bin
FB
Cheng
Fei
F
Wang
Lei
L
Wan
Fang
F
Wang
Hong-Xing
HX
Huang
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015519:Bone Density; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood; D014463:Ultrasonography; D015854:Up-Regulation
D015415:Biomarkers; C111835:CCL2 protein, human; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; C508600:IL6 protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D004958:Estradiol