Research progress in the relationship between interferons and osteoporosis

The interaction between the immune and skeletal systems has drawn much attention in recent years. As important regulators of the immune family,interferons( IFNs) also interfere with bone formation and / or bone resorption. It has been found that osteoporosis-related IFNs include IFN-α,IFN-β,and IFN-γ. This article reviews the important role of IFNs in the development of osteoporosis,aiming at providing a newstrategy in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Currently large progress has been made in the research of the relationship between IFNs and osteoporosis. In clinical trials,the efficacy of IFNs is satisfied in part of secondary osteoporosis patients. It is still a long way to make transformation from research to clinic. Lot of problems exist in the application of IFNs. Solving the problems may help the clinical use of IFNs and improve the level of osteoporosis prevention and treatment.