Cecilia Engdahl

Many of us have an elderly relative who has had a fracture, often due to osteoporosis. Fractures lead to reduced mobility, increased risk of other diseases and premature death. Every second woman gets an osteoporosis-related fracture during her lifetime and the risk of fracturs are age-dependent. An activated immune system, for example due to an autoimmune disease or cancer treatment, increases the risk of fractures further and leads to an earlier incidence of fractures. Bone and the immune system are closely linked and the cell that breaks down bone, the osteoclast, is a bone-specific macrophage, and is thereby stimulated by the same proteins that promote immune activation. We try to understand more about the immune system's connection to bone turnover, mainly via osteoclast stimulation, in autoimmune diseases and after bone marrow transplantation (hematopoietic stem cell transplantation). With this knowledge, we want to counteract the increased risk of fractures and to treat it preventively.