Bone, the major structural scaffold of the human body, has recently been demonstrated to interact with several other organ systems through the actions of bone-derived cells and bone-derived cell secretory proteins. Interestingly, the brain is one organ that appears to fall into this interconnected network. Furthermore, the fact that osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease are two common age-related disorders raises the possibility that these two organ systems are interconnected in terms of disease pathogenesis. This review focuses on the latest evidence demonstrating the impact of bone-derived cells and bone-derived proteins on the central nervous system, and on how this may be relevant in the progression of Alzheimer's disease and for the identification of novel therapeutic approaches to treat this neurodegenerative disorder.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; bone; mesenchymal stem cells; microglia; osteocalcin.