Phthalate exposure and pubertal development in a longitudinal study of US girls.

STUDY QUESTION: Does phthalate exposure during early childhood alter the timing of pubertal development in girls? SUMMARY ANSWER: Urinary concentrations of high-molecular weight phthalate (high-MWP) metabolites are associated with later pubarche. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Phthalates are anti-androgenic environmental agents known to alter early development, with possible effects on pubertal onset. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, AND DURATION: This multi-ethnic study included 1239 girls from New York City, greater Cincinnati, and the San Francisco Bay Area who were 6-8 years old at enrollment (2004-2007) and who were followed until 2011. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Phthalate metabolites were measured in urine collected at enrollment from 1170 girls; concentrations ranged from <1 to >10,000 µg/l. Breast and pubic hair stages and body size were assessed one to two times annually to determine the age at transition from stage 1 to 2 for breast and pubic hair development. Associations between exposures and pubertal ages were estimated using Cox proportional hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and survival analyses. Associations were examined with respect to age-specific body mass-index percentile, one of the strongest predictors of pubertal onset. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Urinary concentrations of high-MWP including di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (ΣDEHP) metabolites were associated with later pubic hair development during 7 years of observation. The relationship was linear and was stronger among normal-weight girls. Among normal-weight girls, age at pubic hair stage 2 (PH2) was 9.5 months older for girls in the fifth compared with the first quintile of urinary ΣDEHP (medians: 510 and 59 µg/g creatinine, respectively; adjusted HR 0.70, CI 0.53-0.93, P-trend 0.005. Age at first breast development was older for fifth quintile of mono-benzyl phthalate versus first (HR 0.83, CI 0.68-1.02; P-trend 0.018). No associations were observed between low-molecular weight phthalate urinary metabolite concentrations and age at pubertal transition in adjusted analyses. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: While there is evidence that phthalate exposures are fairly consistent over time, the exposure measure in this study may not reflect an earlier, more susceptible window of exposure. We investigated alternative explanations that might arise from exposure misclassification or confounding. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Phthalates are widespread, hormonally active pollutants that may alter pubertal timing. Whether exposures delay or accelerate pubertal development may depend on age at exposure as well as other factors such as obesity and exposures earlier in life. Whether exposures act independently or as part of real life mixtures may also change their effects on maturation from birth through childhood. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S): This project was supported by the US National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, New York State Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program and the Avon Foundation. L.H.K. is employed by Kaiser Permanente. The remaining authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Mice deficient in Abl are osteoporotic and have defects in osteoblast maturation.

The c-Abl protein is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase involved in many aspects of mammalian development. c-Abl kinase is widely expressed, but high levels are found in hyaline cartilage in the adult, bone tissue in newborn mice, and osteoblasts and associated neovasculature at sites of endochondrial ossification in the fetus. Mice homozygous for mutations in the gene encoding c-Abl (AIM) display increased perinatal mortality, reduced fertility, foreshortened crania and defects in the maturation of B cells in bone marrow. Here we demonstrate that Abl-/- mice are also osteoporotic. The long bones of mutant mice contain thinner cortical bone and reduced trabecular bone volume. The osteoporotic phenotype is not due to accelerated bone turnover--both the number and activity of osteoclasts are similar to those of control littermates--but rather to dysfunctional osteoblasts. In addition, the rate of mineral apposition in the mutant animals is reduced. Osteoblasts from both stromal and calvarial explants showed delayed maturation in vitro as measured by expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), induction of mRNA encoding osteocalcin and mineral deposition.

The association between parental perception of neighborhood safety and asthma diagnosis in ethnic minority urban children.

Low-income populations, minorities, and children living in inner cities have high rates of asthma. Recent studies have emphasized the role of psychosocial stress in development of asthma. Residence in unsafe neighborhoods is one potential source of increased stress. The study objective was to examine the association between parental perception of neighborhood safety and asthma diagnosis among inner city, minority children. Cross-sectional data from a community-based study of 6-8-year-old New York City children were used. Asthma was defined as parental report of physician-diagnosed asthma and at least one asthma-related symptom. Parental perceptions of neighborhood safety were assessed with a questionnaire. Associations between perceived neighborhood safety and asthma were examined using chi-squared tests. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were then performed. Five hundred four children were included with 79% female, 26.5% non-Hispanic Black, and 73.5% Hispanic. Asthma was present in 23.8% of children. There was an inverse association between feeling safe walking in the neighborhood and asthma with 45.7% of parents of asthmatic children reporting they felt safe compared to 60.9% of parents of non-asthmatic children (p = 0.006). Fewer parents of asthmatic children than of non-asthmatic children reported that their neighborhood was safe from crime (21.7% versus 33.9%, p = 0.018). In multivariate analyses adjusting for race/ethnicity, age, gender, socioeconomic status, number of smokers in the home and breastfeeding history, parents reporting feeling unsafe walking in the neighborhood were more likely to have a child diagnosed with asthma (OR = 1.89, 95%CI 1.13-3.14). Psychosocial stressors such as living in unsafe neighborhoods may be associated with asthma diagnosis in urban ethnic minority children. Addressing the increased asthma burden in certain communities may require interventions to decrease urban stressors.

Substrate recognition by osteoclast precursors induces C-src/microtubule association.

The osteoclast is distinguished from other macrophage polykaryons by its polarization, a feature induced by substrate recognition. The most striking component of the polarized osteoclast is its ruffled membrane, probably reflecting insertion of intracellular vesicles into the bone apposed plasmalemma. The failure of osteoclasts in c-src-/- osteopetrotic mice to form ruffled membranes indicates pp60(c-src) (c-src) is essential to osteoclast polarization. Interestingly, c-src itself is a vesicular protein that targets the ruffled membrane. This being the case, we hypothesized that matrix recognition by osteoclasts, and their precursors, induces c-src to associate with microtubules that traffic proteins to the cell surface. We find abundant c-src associates with tubulin immunoprecipitated from avian marrow macrophages (osteoclast precursors) maintained in the adherent, but not nonadherent, state. Since the two proteins colocalize only within adherent avian osteoclast-like cells examined by double antibody immunoconfocal microscopy, c-src/tubulin association reflects an authentic intracellular event. C-src/tubulin association is evident within 90 min of cell-substrate recognition, and the event does not reflect increased expression of either protein. In vitro kinase assay demonstrates tubulin-associated c-src is enzymatically active, phosphorylating itself as well as exogenous substrate. The increase in microtubule-associated kinase activity attending adhesion mirrors tubulin-bound c-src and does not reflect enhanced specific activity. The fact that microtubule-dissociating drugs, as well as cold, prevent adherence-induced c-src/tubulin association indicates the protooncogene complexes primarily, if not exclusively, with polymerized tubulin. Association of the two proteins does not depend upon protein tyrosine phosphorylation and is substrate specific, as it is induced by vitronectin and fibronectin but not type 1 collagen. Finally, consistent with cotransport of c-src and the osteoclast vacuolar proton pump to the polarized plasmalemma, the H+-ATPase decorates microtubules in a manner similar to the protooncogene, specifically coimmunoprecipitates with c-src from the osteoclast light Golgi membrane fraction, and is present, with c-src, in preparations enriched with acidifying vesicles reconstituted from the osteoclast ruffled membrane.

Isolated osteoclasts resorb the organic and inorganic components of bone.

Osteoclasts are the principal resorptive cells of bone, yet their capacity to degrade collagen, the major organic component of bone matrix, remains unexplored. Accordingly, we have studied the bone resorptive activity of highly enriched populations of isolated chicken osteoclasts, using as substrate devitalized rat bone which had been labeled in vivo with L-[5-3H]proline or 45Ca, and bone-like matrix produced and mineralized in vitro by osteoblast-like rat osteosarcoma cells. When co-cultured with a radiolabeled substrate, osteoclast-mediated mineral mobilization reached a maximal rate within 2 h, whereas organic matrix degradation appeared more slowly, reaching maximal rate by 12-24 h. Thereafter, the rates of organic and inorganic matrix resorption were essentially linear and parallel for at least 6 d when excess substrate was available. Osteoclast-mediated degradation of bone collagen was confirmed by amino acid analysis. 39% of the solubilized tritium was recovered as trans-4-hydroxyproline, 47% as proline. 10,000 osteoclasts solubilized 70% of the total radioactivity and 65% of the [3H]-trans-4-hydroxyproline from 100 micrograms of 25-50 micron bone fragments within 5 d. Virtually all released tritium-labeled protein was of low molecular weight, 99% with Mr less than or equal to 10,000, and 65% with Mr less than or equal to 1,000. Moreover, when the 14% of resorbed [3H]proline-labeled peptides with Mr greater than or equal to 2,000 were examined for the presence of TCA and TCB, the characteristic initial products of mammalian collagenase activity, none was detected by SDS PAGE. In addition, osteoclast-conditioned medium had no collagenolytic activity, and exogenous TCA and TCB fragments were not degraded by osteoclasts. On the other hand, osteoclast lysates have collagenolytic enzyme activity in acidic but not in neutral buffer, with maximum activity at pH 4.0. These data indicate that osteoclasts have the capacity to resorb the organic phase of bone by a process localized to the osteoclast and its attachment site. This process appears to be independent of secretion of neutral collagenase and probably reflects acid protease activity.

Recruitment of osteoclast precursors by purified bone matrix constituents.

The osteoclast, the multinucleated giant cell of bone, is derived from circulating blood cells, most likely monocytes. Evidence has accrued that is consistent with the hypothesis that the recruitment of monocytes for osteoclast development occurs by chemotaxis. In the present study, we have examined the chemotactic response of human peripheral blood monocytes and related polymorphonuclear leucocytes to three constituents of bone matrix: peptides from Type I collagen, alpha 2-HS glycoprotein, and osteocalcin (bone gla protein). The latter two substances are among the major noncollagenous proteins of bone and are uniquely associated with calcified connective tissue. In chemotaxis assays using modified Boyden chambers, Type I collagen peptides, alpha 2HS glycoprotein, and osteocalcin evoke a dose-dependent chemotactic response in human monocytes. No chemotaxis is observed on PMNs despite their ontogenetic relationship to monocytes and their documented sensitivity to a broad range of other chemical substances. Our observations are consistent with the view that osteoclast precursors (monocytes) are mobilized by chemotaxis, and suggest that the chemoattractants responsible for this activity are derived from the bone matrix or, in the case of collagen and osteocalcin; directly from the osteoblasts which produce them.

Osteoclast cytosolic calcium, regulated by voltage-gated calcium channels and extracellular calcium, controls podosome assembly and bone resorption.

The mechanisms of Ca2+ entry and their effects on cell function were investigated in cultured chicken osteoclasts and putative osteoclasts produced by fusion of mononuclear cell precursors. Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (VGCC) were detected by the effects of membrane depolarization with K+, BAY K 8644, and dihydropyridine antagonists. K+ produced dose-dependent increases of cytosolic calcium ([Ca2+]i) in osteoclasts on glass coverslips. Half-maximal effects were achieved at 70 mM K+. The effects of K+ were completely inhibited by dihydropyridine derivative Ca2+ channel blocking agents. BAY K 8644 (5 X 10(-6) M), a VGCC agonist, stimulated Ca2+ entry which was inhibited by nicardipine. VGCCs were inactivated by the attachment of osteoclasts to bone, indicating a rapid phenotypic change in Ca2+ entry mechanisms associated with adhesion of osteoclasts to their resorption substrate. Increasing extracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]e) induced Ca2+ release from intracellular stores and Ca2+ influx. The Ca2+ release was blocked by dantrolene (10(-5) M), and the influx by La3+. The effects of [Ca2+]e on [Ca2+]i suggests the presence of a Ca2+ receptor on the osteoclast cell membrane that could be coupled to mechanisms regulating cell function. Expression of the [Ca2+]e effect on [Ca2+]i was similar in the presence or absence of bone matrix substrate. Each of the mechanisms producing increases in [Ca2+]i, (membrane depolarization, BAY K 8644, and [Ca2+]e) reduced expression of the osteoclast-specific adhesion structure, the podosome. The decrease in podosome expression was mirrored by a 50% decrease in bone resorptive activity. Thus, stimulated increases of osteoclast [Ca2+]i lead to cytoskeletal changes affecting cell adhesion and decreasing bone resorptive activity.

Bone resorption by osteoclasts.

Osteoporosis, a disease endemic in Western society, typically reflects an imbalance in skeletal turnover so that bone resorption exceeds bone formation. Bone resorption is the unique function of the osteoclast, and anti-osteoporosis therapy to date has targeted this cell. The osteoclast is a specialized macrophage polykaryon whose differentiation is principally regulated by macrophage colony-stimulating factor, RANK ligand, and osteoprotegerin. Reflecting integrin-mediated signals, the osteoclast develops a specialized cytoskeleton that permits it to establish an isolated microenvironment between itself and bone, wherein matrix degradation occurs by a process involving proton transport. Osteopetrotic mutants have provided a wealth of information about the genes that regulate the differentiation of osteoclasts and their capacity to resorb bone.

Osteoclastic bone resorption by a polarized vacuolar proton pump.

Bone resorption depends on the formation, by osteoclasts, of an acidic extracellular compartment wherein matrix is degraded. The mechanism by which osteoclasts transport protons into that resorptive microenvironment was identified by means of adenosine triphosphate-dependent weak base accumulation in isolated osteoclast membrane vesicles, which exhibited substrate and inhibition properties characteristic of the vacuolar, electrogenic H+-transporting adenosine triphosphatase (H+-ATPase). Identify of the proton pump was confirmed by immunoblot of osteoclast membrane proteins probed with antibody to vacuolar H+-ATPase isolated from bovine kidney. The osteoclast's H+-ATPase was immunocytochemically localized to the cell-bone attachment site. Immunoelectron microscopy showed that the H+-ATPase was present in the ruffled membrane, the resorptive organ of the cell.

Contact-mediated bone resorption by human monocytes in vitro.

Human circulating monocytes in tissue culture are capable of resorbing devitalized adult and fetal bone. An important component of this process is the adhesion of the cells to the mineralized substrate and the localized removal of matrix from beneath the attached cells. The process appears to involve both release of lysosomal enzymes onto the substrate and intracellular accumulation (transport) of resorbed matrix.

Saccharides mediate the attachment of rat macrophages to bone in vitro.

Macrophages (M phi) are multipotential cells capable of giving rise to osteoclasts and of resorbing bone. Since both of these processes are ultimately dependent upon the attachment of cells to a mineralized bone surface, we have examined in this study the mechanism by which such attachment is achieved. The data show that elicited rat peritoneal M phi bind to bone in a temperature-dependent and -saturable manner with half-maximal attachment occurring within 10 min at 37 degrees C and reaching a plateau by approximately 60 min. The kinetics of binding are essentially the same whether devitalized bone particles or viable calvaria are used as a substrate. The attachment of M phi to bone is inhibited by some sugars (e.g., N-acetyl-galactosamine, thiogalactoside, beta-lactose), fetuin and asialofetuin, and by pretreating the bone with periodate. Binding is also significantly reduced when M phi are preincubated with tunicamycin and swainsonine at nontoxic concentrations sufficient to inhibit or alter glycosylation. On the other hand, exposing the cells to neuraminidase increases the capacity of M phi to bind to bone. Collectively, our observations indicate that the attachment of M phi to bone is a highly regulated process and is mediated, at least in part, by saccharides located on both the cell and the bone surface.

Defective binding of macrophages to bone in rodent osteomalacia and vitamin D deficiency. In vitro evidence for a cellular defect and altered saccharides in the bone matrix.

In the osteomalacic as well as normal skeleton, few osteoclasts are associated with osteoid-covered bone surfaces. The reason for this particular cellular deficit is not clear, but may relate to the inability of osteoclasts and/or osteoclast precursors (monocyte-macrophages) to attach to immature, unmineralized bone matrix, a step apparently essential for normal resorptive activity and osteoclast differentiation. In this study, we have examined cell-bone binding using macrophages (M phi) and bone isolated from vitamin D-deficient rats and hypophosphatemic, osteomalacic mice and from their normal counterparts. The data show that M phi-bone attachment is greatly reduced (P less than 0.001) in both vitamin D deficiency and hypophosphatemia, but that the mechanisms responsible for this reduction are apparently different in the two disorders. In hypophosphatemia, the reduction in binding appears solely attributable to the absence or inaccessibility of bone matrix oligosaccharides or glycoproteins essential to the attachment process. In vitamin D deficiency, on the other hand, not only is the bone matrix defective as a binding substrate, but the M phi, per se, is limited in its capacity to attach to normal, vitamin D-deficient, and hypophosphatemic bone.

Altered mineral metabolism in glucocorticoid-induced osteopenia. Effect of 25-hydroxyvitamin D administration.

Parameters of mineral and bone metabolism were studied in 17 patients treated chronically with supraphysiologic doses of glucocorticoids. When compared to 15 matched normal subjects, the patient group exhibited similar serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels, decreased intestinal 47Ca absorption, increased serum immunoreactive parathyroid hormone, and decreased forearm bone mass. Iliac crest bone biopsies revealed a decreased bone formation rate and increased osteoclast number. Treatment with 25-OHD (mean dose 4.03 micrograms/d) and calcium (500 mg/d) in nine patients produced a 46% increase in 47Ca absorption (P less than 0.001) and a 54% decrease in serum immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (P less than 0.001) by 3 mo. In addition, by 12 mo the treatment group exhibited (a) a 13.2 +/- 5.1% increase in metaphyseal (P less than 0.001) and a 2.1 +/- 0.4% increase in diaphyseal (P less than 0.05) forearm bone mass, and (b) significant decreases in cortical and endosteal osteoclast number. Biochemical and bone mass changes persisted through 18 mo. No significant changes in any parameter occurred in eight control patients administered calcium 100 mg/d. It is concluded that treatment with 25-OHD and calcium can significantly improve parameters of mineral and bone metabolism in patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteopenia.

Lipopolysaccharide-stimulated osteoclastogenesis is mediated by tumor necrosis factor via its P55 receptor.

Chronic bone infection, as attends periodontitis, is often complicated by severe osteolysis. While LPS is believed to be central to the pathogenesis of the osteolytic lesion, the mechanisms by which this bacteria-derived molecule promotes bone resorption are unknown. We find that LPS induces bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) to express c-src, a protooncogene product that we demonstrate is a specific marker of commitment to the osteoclast phenotype. We next turned to possible soluble mediators of LPS-induced c-src. Of a number of osteoclastogenic cytokines tested, only TNF-alpha mirrors the c-src-enhancing effect of LPS. Suggesting that LPS augmentation of c-src is TNF-mediated, endotoxin sequentially induces BMM expression of TNF, followed by c-src. TNF and c-src expression, by cultured BMMs derived from LPS-injected mice, reflects duration of exposure to circulating endotoxin, intimating that endotoxin's effect in vivo is also mediated by TNF. Consistent with these findings, thalidomide (which antagonizes TNF action) attenuates c-src induction by LPS. An anti-TNF antibody blocks LPS enhancement of c-src mRNA, validating the cytokine's modulating role in vitro. Using BMMs of TNF receptor-deleted mice, we demonstrate that TNF induction of c-src is transmitted through the cytokine's p55, but not p75, receptor. Most importantly, LPS administered to wild-type mice prompts osteoclast precursor differentiation, manifest by profound osteoclastogenesis in marrow cultured ex vivo, and by a profusion of marrow-residing cells expressing the osteoclast marker tartrate resistant acid phosphatase, in vivo. In contrast, LPS does not substantially enhance osteoclast proliferation in mice lacking the p55TNF receptor, confirming that LPS-induced osteoclastogenesis is mediated by TNF in vivo via this receptor. Thus, therapy targeting TNF and/or its p55 receptor presents itself as a means of preventing the osteolysis of chronic bacterial infection.

Differential action of the bisphosphonates (3-amino-1-hydroxypropylidene)-1,1-bisphosphonate (APD) and disodium dichloromethylidene bisphosphonate (Cl2MDP) on rat macrophage-mediated bone resorption in vitro.

The bisphosphonates (3-amino-1-hydroxypropylidene)-1,1-bisphosphonate (APD) and disodium dichloromethylidene bisphosphonate (Cl(2)MDP) effectively inhibit the accelerated bone resorption associated with some skeletal disorders, e.g., Paget's disease. However, it has not been established whether these compounds exert their inhibitory effect by rendering the bone mineral more resistant to degradation, by diminishing the activity of resorbing cells, or through some combination of both activities. In this study, we have tested these possibilities using an in vitro resorption assay system consisting of elicited rat peritoneal macrophages co-cultured with particles of (45)Ca-labeled, devitalized rat bone. This assay system permits the quantitative assessment of the action of APD and Cl(2)MDP on the two major phases of bone resorption (cell-substrate attachment and osteolysis) under circumstances where the drugs are present continuously or, most importantly for the issues in question, after the separate pretreatment of the particles or the resorbing cells. Our data indicate that (a) Both APD and Cl(2)MDP at concentrations >/=5 x 10(-6) M diminish macrophage-mediated (45)Ca release (i.e., bone resorption) in a log dose-dependent fashion. (b) A 10-min pretreatment of bone particles with either bisphosphonate (P-C-P) similarly inhibits resorptive activity, but is most pronounced with Cl(2)MDP. However, only APD is effective in reducing resorption when cells are preincubated (for 24 h) with P-C-P. (c) In cultures containing both labeled and unlabeled bone, significant inhibition occurs only when the labeled particles are coated with P-C-P (indicating that the action of P-C-P-treated bone is highly localized). (d) P-C-P does not diminish cell-bone particle attachment, an essential step in the resorptive process. On the other hand, delaying the addition of P-C-P until after cell-bone attachment is completed significantly reduces the resorption-inhibiting effect of these compounds. (e) Cl(2)MDP reduces culture DNA content in proportion to its inhibitory effect on resorption, and both the inhibitory and cytotoxic actions of this P-C-P are dependent upon the presence of bone. On the other hand, APD is cytotoxic only at very high concentrations (10(-4) M), acts independently of the presence of bone, and inhibits resorption without killing cells. We conclude that the mechanisms of action of APD and Cl(2)MDP are markedly different. Cl(2)MDP is a potent cytotoxin in the presence of bone and apparently exerts its inhibitory effect in this manner. APD is noncytotoxic at levels adequate to suppress resorption and, therefore, must inhibit macrophage activity by some other mechanism. Neither P-C-P appears to limit resorption by decreasing the solubility of mineralized bone matrix.

Interaction of diphenylhydantoin (phenytoin) and phenobarbital with hormonal mediation of fetal rat bone resorption in vitro.

Chronic administration of high doses of anticonvulsant drugs frequently produces classic osteomalacia with bone histologic changes characteristic of increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) effect in man. However, several reports have documented defects in calcified tissue metabolism suggestive of an end-organ resistance to PTH after chronic anticonvulsant drug therapy. To examine the direct action of anticonvulsant drugs on bone resorption, we investigated the effects of diphenylhydantoin (phenytoin) (DPH) (100-200 mug/ml) and phenobarbital (10-400 mug/ml) on basal and hormonally mediated resorption 5-day cultures of fetal rat forelimb rudiments. In this system both drugs significantly inhibited basal and PTH-stimulated (45)Ca and [(3)H]hydroxyproline release, as well as 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3)-stimulated (45)Ca release. The effects of DPH and phenobarbital were additive, with DPH exhibiting a several-fold more potent inhibitory effect than phenobarbital. Whereas DPH exhibited a striking synergism with the inhibitory effects of human calcitonin (HCT) on PTH-induced resorption, the effect of phenobarbital was merely additive to that of HCT. PTH and PTH plus HCT-induced increases in bone cyclic AMP (cAMP) content were significantly inhibited by DPH but not by phenobarbital. However, in contrast to effects on (45)Ca release, DPH inhibition of cAMP generation was not accentuated in the presence of HCT. It is concluded that: (a) both DPH and phenobarbital can directly inhibit basal and hormonally stimulated bone resorption, with DPH being much more potent in this regard; (b) DPH appears to inhibit bone resorption via a cAMP-independent mechanism and has an additional suppressive effect on PTH-induced cAMP generation; and (c) the synergistic interaction of DPH and HCT in inhibiting (45)Ca release occurs at a site independent of cAMP generation.

Lithium inhibition of bone mineralization and osteoid formation.

Lithium chloride administration to growing rats, which resulted in circulating lithium levels of 1.4 meq/liter, was attended by significant suppression of bone mineralization and organic matrix synthesis as assessed by tetracycline labeling and histological quantitation of osteoid, respectively. These effects of lithium were not associated with changes in animal behavior, nor were there any significant differences in blood levels of calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, pH, or parathyroid hormone. The data suggest that lithium inhibition of bone mineralization is secondary to suppression of osteoid formation.

Human alveolar macrophages produce a fibroblast-like collagenase and collagenase inhibitor.

Human macrophages have been implicated in connective tissue remodeling; however, little is known about their direct effects upon collagen degradation. We now report that human alveolar macrophages in culture produced both a collagenase and a collagenase inhibitor. The collagenase was secreted in latent form and could be activated by exposure to trypsin. Collagenase production could be increased three- to fourfold by incubating the cells with lipopolysaccharide, but synthesis was largely unaffected by exposure to phorbol myristate acetate. By several criteria, macrophage collagenase was the same as the collagenase secreted by human skin fibroblasts: (a) they were antigenically indistinguishable in double immunodiffusion; (b) both degraded type III collagen preferentially to type I, had little activity against type II collagen, and none against types IV and V, and (c) their affinity for susceptible collagens was equivalent, Michaelis constant = 1-2 microM. Collagenase inhibitory activity was also present in the macrophage-conditioned medium, and was accounted for by an antigen that showed immunologic and functional identity with the collagenase inhibitor secreted by human skin fibroblasts. The amount of inhibitor released by unstimulated cells, approximately 100 ng/10(6) cells per 24 h, was substantially augmented by both phorbol and lipopolysaccharide, although considerable variability in response to these agents was observed between macrophage populations derived from different subjects. As negligible quantities of collagenase or collagenase inhibitor were detectable intracellularly, it appeared that both proteins were secreted rapidly after synthesis. Thus, human macrophages have the capacity to modulate collagen degradation directly by production of collagenase and collagenase inhibitor.

Bisphosphonates directly inhibit the bone resorption activity of isolated avian osteoclasts in vitro.

Bisphosphonates are useful in treatment of disorders with increased osteoclastic activity, but the mechanism by which bisphosphonates act is unknown. We used cultures of chicken osteoclasts to address this issue, and found that 1-hydroxyethylidenediphosphonic acid (EHDP), dichloromethylidenediphosphonic acid (Cl2MDP), or 3-amino-1-hydroxypropylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (APD) all cause direct dose-dependent suppression of osteoclastic activity. Effects are mediated by bone-bound drugs, with 50% reduction of bone degradation occurring at 500 nM to 5 microM of the different agents. Osteoclastic bone-binding capacity decreased by 30-40% after 72 h of bisphosphonate treatment, despite maintenance of cell viability. Significant inhibition of bone resorption in each case is seen only after 24-72 h of treatment. Osteoclast activity depends on ATP-dependent proton transport. Using acridine orange as an indicator, we found that EHDP reduces proton accumulation by osteoclasts. However, inside-out plasma membrane vesicles from osteoclasts transport H+ normally in response to ATP in high concentrations of EHDP, Cl2MDP, or APD. This suggests that the bisphosphonates act as metabolic inhibitors. Bisphosphonates reduce osteoclastic protein synthesis, supporting this hypothesis. Furthermore, [3H]leucine incorporation by the fibroblast, which does not resorb bone, is also diminished by EHDP, Cl2MDP and APD except when co-cultured with bisphosphonate-binding bone particles. Thus, the resorption-antagonizing capacities of EHDP, Cl2MDP and APD reflect metabolic inhibition, with selectivity for the osteoclast resulting from high affinity binding to bone mineral.

TNF-alpha induces osteoclastogenesis by direct stimulation of macrophages exposed to permissive levels of RANK ligand.

While TNF-alpha is pivotal to the pathogenesis of inflammatory osteolysis, the means by which it recruits osteoclasts and promotes bone destruction are unknown. We find that a pure population of murine osteoclast precursors fails to undergo osteoclastogenesis when treated with TNF-alpha alone. In contrast, the cytokine dramatically stimulates differentiation in macrophages primed by less than one percent of the amount of RANKL (ligand for the receptor activator of NF-kappaB) required to induce osteoclast formation. Mirroring their synergistic effects on osteoclast differentiation, TNF-alpha and RANKL markedly potentiate NF-kappaB and stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase activity, two signaling pathways essential for osteoclastogenesis. In vivo administration of TNF-alpha prompts robust osteoclast formation in chimeric animals in which ss-galactosidase positive, TNF-responsive macrophages develop within a TNF-nonresponsive stromal environment. Thus, while TNF-alpha alone does not induce osteoclastogenesis, it does so both in vitro and in vivo by directly targeting macrophages within a stromal environment that expresses permissive levels of RANKL. Given the minuscule amount of RANKL sufficient to synergize with TNF-alpha to promote osteoclastogenesis, TNF-alpha appears to be a more convenient target in arresting inflammatory osteolysis.