Mediators of localised pathological bone loss / Tania N. Crotti.

Abstract

This thesis examines localised bone loss, with the focus on bone loss around prosthetic joints in periodontal disease and rheumatoid arthritis. It explores the possibility that bone resorption that is not balanced by bone formation is caused by an abnormal expression of factors that regulate osteoclast formation and activity in the tissue adjacent to the site of pathological bone loss, and seeks to identify these factors in human tissues in situ. It also seeks to elucidate a possible mechanism by which osteolytic mediators induce bone osteolysis in several bone pathologies associated with bone loss. The study shows that the same mechanisms of osteolysis apply to several diseases in humans and suggests that simliar approaches could be used to inhibit osteolysis in localised bone loss.