Annales de Biologie Clinique
MENUBiomarkers of vascular calcifications: the osteoprotegerin/RANK/RANK L axis Volume 73, issue 3, Mai-Juin 2015
Authors
1 Service de biochimie, CHU de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier 1, Montpellier, France
- Key words: osteoprotegerin, receptor activator of NFkB ligand (RANKL), bone, vascular calcification
- DOI : 10.1684/abc.2015.1051
- Page(s) : 289-98
- Published in: 2015
A better knowledge of physiopathologic phenomena responsible for vascular mineralization leads to emerging biological markers of vascular calcifications. In calcified arteries, the presence of bone matrix as well as osteoblast cells suggest that vascular calcification is an active and highly regulated process. The OPG/RANK/RANKL system is clearly of central significance in controlling vascular calcifications as in bone metabolism. Converging results suggest that circulating OPG determination should be a relevant marker of calcifications. The OPG/RANK/RANKL pathway also represents a potential therapeutic target in diseases associated with high bone resorption.