Expression levels of estrogen receptor α mRNA in peripheral blood cells are an independent biomarker for postmenopausal osteoporosis

The up- and down-regulation of the osteoclastogenesis response depends on the estrogen/estrogen receptor (ER) signaling pathway. Previous reports have shown that the promoter hypermethylation and gene polymorphism of ERα are risks for menopausal osteoporosis. No previous study has evaluated the expression levels of ERα mRNA in menopausal osteoporosis using human subjects. We hypothesized that ERα mRNA expression may show less resistance to postmenopausal osteoporosis. In this study, we enrolled 107 women older than 45years without menstruation and classified them into control, osteopenia, and osteoporosis groups depending on their T-scores. The ERα mRNA levels in peripheral blood cells (PBCs) were analyzed via quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR), and estrogen in the serum was detected via ELISA. ERα mRNA levels in PBCs had a negative correlation with age and a positive correlation with estrogen and BAP in the osteopenia and osteoporosis groups, but not in the control group. Additionally, multivariate analysis showed that older age (>55years), and low ERα mRNA levels in PBLs (≦250.39 copies/μg DNA) were associated with an approximately 9.188-, and 31.25-fold risk of osteoporosis. We conclude that ERα mRNA levels in PBLs could be used as an independent risk factor for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Our findings suggested that ERα mRNA levels in PBLs may be more important than age and serum estrogen levels. •In this study, we found that 1. ERα mRNA levels in PBCs had a negative correlation with age and a positive correlation with estrogen and BAP in the osteopenia and osteoporosis groups; 2. No correlation between ERα mRNA levels in PBCs, estrogen and BAP in the control group; 3. age and ERα mRNA levels in PBLs could be used as independent risk factors for postmenopausal osteoporosis.