Association between Biochemical Markers of Bone Turnover and Markers in the Estrogen Receptor (er) Gene

Bone metabolism is characterized by two opposite activities: the formation of new bone by osteoblasts and the degradation of old bone by the osteoclasts. Osteoporosis is a disease in which subtle modi cations of bone remodeling can result in a substantial loss of bone over a prolonged period of time. The needs for non-invasive techniques that can be applied more widely and repeated several times in a single patient explain the development of markers of bone turnover that are measured in blood and urine. The prognostic value of parameters as risk indexes for osteoporosis is not enough. This makes it possible to use genetic markers, which together with already existing risk indexes will improve the identi cation of individuals with higher osteoporosis risk. The future development of genetic studies in osteoporosis will proceed in two major directions: identi cation of further candidate genes, their interaction with each other and their application to de ned diseases of bone metabolism.