Chief Investigator:

Dr Qian Tang

Funding Amount:

$34,995

Recipient:

University of South Australia

Overview:

Glucocorticoids are commonly used in children and cause bone defects, for which mechanisms are unclear and preventative means are lacking. Our in vitro work now showed that dexamethasone (Dex) damages skeletal cells and induces chemokine SDF-1 most prominently, and that the induced SDF-1 increases recruitment of bone-degrading cells (osteoclasts). In Dex-treated rats, this project aims to establish if SDF-1 induction causes bone loss and if blocking SDF-1 protects bone. This work will provide novel mechanistic insights and can lead to a bone protective strategy for children on glucocorticoids.