Bone
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Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been recently shown to play an important role during endochondral bone formation in hypertrophic cartilage remodeling, ossification, and angiogenesis. To our knowledge there are no previous studies investigating the role of VEGF in osteoporosis. We hypothesized that VEGF expression in bone would be reduced under glucocorticoid (GC) treatment and tested this in a minipig model. ⋯ Since reductions in VEGF concentrations correlate with parallel measurement of bone mineral density in GC-treated minipigs we hypothesize that VEGF may be an important modulating factor for bone remodeling, specifically in GC-induced osteoporosis. GC inhibit COX-2 and hence prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production. Since PGE2 is able to increase VEGF synthesis, this may be the link between GC and VEGF decrease.