Kisspeptin is a promising therapy for osteoporosis in men
|
Reviewed by Dat Tien Nguyen, B.A, ScM.
|
Posted on November 7th, 2022
|
Human bone constantly undergoes a process of formation and resorption. Disruption to this homeostasis is the pathophysiological cause behind osteoporosis. Thus, agents which inhibit the process of bone resorption carried out by osteoclasts can potentially be used to slow down the process of bone loss and prevent osteoporosis. A recent study had reported that kisspeptins can act on osteoclasts, reducing the resorption efficiency; thus, it can potentially be used to treat osteoporosis.
The paper included data from an in vitro study and a human study. Incubating with human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) line, TERT4-cells with 1 nM of kisspeptin for 7 days induce a 41.1% increase in alkaline phosphatase levels in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. In addition, with visual inspection, the study reported that kisspeptin induced a 53.4% reduction in resorption by osteoclasts. Clinically, this translates to favorable observation in the human study. The randomized trial included 26 men with an average age of 27 years old. An intravenous infusion of kisspeptin was administered in a dosage of 1 nmol/kg/hour over 90 minutes. The treatment of kisspeptin resulted in an increase in osteoblast activity and the level of osteocalcin, a biomarker associated with bone formation.
These results show that kisspeptin can be a promising agent to use for osteoporosis therapy. However, further experimentation needs to be conducted because this study has several limitations. Firstly, the study sample size is relatively small; thus, the result is more likely to be influenced by chance and does not reflect the variation observed in the population. Second, the average age is 27 years old; this is younger than the age of osteoporosis onset. Lastly, the study did not report on the safety profile of kisspeptin, which is needed if the agent is adopted for further experimentation in humans.
The paper included data from an in vitro study and a human study. Incubating with human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) line, TERT4-cells with 1 nM of kisspeptin for 7 days induce a 41.1% increase in alkaline phosphatase levels in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. In addition, with visual inspection, the study reported that kisspeptin induced a 53.4% reduction in resorption by osteoclasts. Clinically, this translates to favorable observation in the human study. The randomized trial included 26 men with an average age of 27 years old. An intravenous infusion of kisspeptin was administered in a dosage of 1 nmol/kg/hour over 90 minutes. The treatment of kisspeptin resulted in an increase in osteoblast activity and the level of osteocalcin, a biomarker associated with bone formation.
These results show that kisspeptin can be a promising agent to use for osteoporosis therapy. However, further experimentation needs to be conducted because this study has several limitations. Firstly, the study sample size is relatively small; thus, the result is more likely to be influenced by chance and does not reflect the variation observed in the population. Second, the average age is 27 years old; this is younger than the age of osteoporosis onset. Lastly, the study did not report on the safety profile of kisspeptin, which is needed if the agent is adopted for further experimentation in humans.