Autophagy markers are decreased in bone of osteoporotic patients: a monocentric comparative study

Osteoporosis (OP) is a pathology characterized by bone fragility affecting 30% of postmenopausal women, mainly due to estrogen deprivation and increased oxidative stress. An autophagy involvement is suspected in OP pathogenesis but a definitive proof in humans remains to be obtained.

Postmenopausal women hospitalized for femoral neck fracture (OP group) or total hip replacement (Control group) were enrolled using very strict exclusion criteria. Western blot was used to analyze autophagy level.

The protein expression level of the autophagosome marker LC3-II was significantly decreased in bone of OP patients relative to the control group. In addition, the protein expression of the hormonally upregulated neu-associated kinase (HUNK), which is upregulated by female hormones and promotes autophagy, was also significantly reduced in bone of the OP group.

These results demonstrate for the first time that postmenopausal OP patients have a deficit in bone autophagy level and suggest that HUNK could be the factor linking estrogen loss and autophagy decline.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03175874, 2/6/2017.