Endocrine Abstracts

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Glucocorticoids have profound effects on bone leading to glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis observed at long term steroid therapy. The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a hormone-induced transcription factor controlling gene expression as a monomer or dimeric molecule. We demonstrated- in contrast to the prevailing view - that the induction of genes by dimeric GR molecules suppresses inflammation in disease models. In contrast the monomer GR mediates inhibition of bone formatio...

Glucocorticoids are effective for the treatment of many chronic conditions but their use is associated with frequent and wide-ranging adverse effects including osteoporosis and growth retardation. The mechanisms that underlie the undesirable effects of GCs on skeletal development are unclear and there is no proven effective treatment to combat them. An in-vivo model that investigates the development and progression of GC-induced changes in bone is, therefore, importan...