Ovarian Aging and Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is the most common bone metabolic disease with a very high morbidity, and women usually got a higher risk of osteoporosis than men. The high incidence rate of osteoporosis in women was mainly caused by (1) women having fewer skeletons and bone mass, (2) pregnancy consuming a large amount of calcium and other nutrients, and most importantly (3) the cease of estrogen secretion by ovaries after menopause. Along with ovarian aging, the follicle pool gradually declines and the oocyte quality reduced, accompanied with decline in serum estrogen. Estrogen deficiency plays an important role in the pathogenesis of postmenopausal osteoporosis; it is mainly a result of the recognition that estrogen regulates bone remodeling by modulating the production of cytokines and growth factors from bone marrow and bone cells. This review will summarize current knowledge concerning ovarian aging and postmenopause osteoporosis and also discuss clinical treatment and new ideas of drug development for osteoporosis.