Micropetrosis: Osteocyte Lacunar Mineralization in Aging and Disease

TY - JOUR

T1 - Micropetrosis: Osteocyte Lacunar Mineralization in Aging and Disease

AU - Milovanovic, Petar

AU - Busse, Björn

N1 - © 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: As the importance of osteocytes for bone mineral homeostasis is increasingly recognized, there is growing interest in osteocyte cell death as a relevant indicator in various physiological and pathological conditions. Micropetrosis is an established term used to describe osteocyte lacunae that are filled with minerals following osteocyte death. While the early reports of micropetrosis were purely descriptive, there is now an increasing body of literature showing quantitative data on micropetrosis in various conditions such as aging, osteoporosis, immobilization, and diabetes, and in osteoporosis treatment (denosumab and bisphosphonates). This review summarizes quantitative findings on micropetrosis, with a particular emphasis on the recent advances in the field.RECENT FINDINGS: There is growing evidence that micropetrosis is more common in older, osteoporotic, and immobilized individuals, as well as in individuals with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Denosumab and bisphosphonates seem to affect lacunar mineralization differently, where specifically bisphosphonates have been shown to prolong osteocyte viability and reduce micropetrosis. Despite continuous proceedings in the field of osteocyte-lacunar-network characteristics, more studies are necessary to further clarify the mechanisms of lacunar mineralization, the inter-site variability of micropetrosis accumulation, the relevance of micropetrosis in various diseases and conditions, and whether micropetrosis could be an indicator of bone fragility or a target for treatment.

AB - PURPOSE OF REVIEW: As the importance of osteocytes for bone mineral homeostasis is increasingly recognized, there is growing interest in osteocyte cell death as a relevant indicator in various physiological and pathological conditions. Micropetrosis is an established term used to describe osteocyte lacunae that are filled with minerals following osteocyte death. While the early reports of micropetrosis were purely descriptive, there is now an increasing body of literature showing quantitative data on micropetrosis in various conditions such as aging, osteoporosis, immobilization, and diabetes, and in osteoporosis treatment (denosumab and bisphosphonates). This review summarizes quantitative findings on micropetrosis, with a particular emphasis on the recent advances in the field.RECENT FINDINGS: There is growing evidence that micropetrosis is more common in older, osteoporotic, and immobilized individuals, as well as in individuals with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Denosumab and bisphosphonates seem to affect lacunar mineralization differently, where specifically bisphosphonates have been shown to prolong osteocyte viability and reduce micropetrosis. Despite continuous proceedings in the field of osteocyte-lacunar-network characteristics, more studies are necessary to further clarify the mechanisms of lacunar mineralization, the inter-site variability of micropetrosis accumulation, the relevance of micropetrosis in various diseases and conditions, and whether micropetrosis could be an indicator of bone fragility or a target for treatment.

KW - Humans

KW - Aged

KW - Osteocytes/physiology

KW - Denosumab

KW - Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2

KW - Aging/pathology

KW - Calcinosis

KW - Osteoporosis/diagnostic imaging

KW - Diphosphonates

U2 - 10.1007/s11914-023-00832-4

DO - 10.1007/s11914-023-00832-4

M3 - SCORING: Review article

C2 - 37917286

VL - 21

SP - 750

EP - 757

JO - CURR OSTEOPOROS REP

JF - CURR OSTEOPOROS REP

SN - 1544-1873

IS - 6

ER -