Leptin inhibits osteoclast generation

Abstract

Originally, leptin was described as a product of adipocytes that acts on the hypothalamus to regulate appetite. However, subsequently, it has been shown that leptin receptors are distributed widely and that leptin has diverse functions, including promotion of hemopoietic and osteoblastic differentiation. It has been recognized for some time that both serum leptin and bone mass are correlated positively to body fat mass and, recently, we have shown a direct positive relationship between serum leptin and bone mass in nonobese women. We now report that leptin inhibits osteoclast generation in cultures of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and murine spleen cells incubated on bone ..