Fat and bone interactions

Abstract

Fat and bone have a complicated relationship. Although obesity has been associated with low fracture risk, there is increasing evidence that some of the factors that are released by peripheral fat into the circulation may also have a deleterious effect on bone mass, thus, predisposing to fractures. More importantly, the local interaction between fat and bone within the bone marrow seems to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of age-related bone loss and osteoporosis. This " local interaction" occurs inside the bone marrow and is associated with the autocrine and paracrine release of fatty acids and adipokines, which affect the cells in their vicinity including the osteoblasts, reducing their function and survival. In this review, we explore the particularities of the fat and bone cell interactions within the bone marrow, their significance in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis, and the potential therapeutic applications that regulating marrow fat may have in the near future as a novel pharmacologic treatment for osteoporosis. © Springer Science+Business Media 2014.