Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) occurs subsequent to intravenous and oral bisphosphonate exposure in a small subset of patients. Evidence of concurrent bacterial colonization at sites of bone necrosis, previous reports of neutrophil-related complications in some patients taking bisphosphonates along with perturbed neutrophil function in bisphosphonate-treated mice suggests an innate immune role in the development of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws. This study investigates neutrophil function in BRONJ patients to determine if neutrophil functional defects may serve as a potential biomarker for BRONJ susceptibility. Patients with BRONJ and patients beginning intravenous pamidronate were studied. Eighteen patients with BRONJ and five patients beginning pamidronate therapy provided oral and blood neutrophil samples. Neutrophils from the population of patients with bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws and from those post-pamidronate treatment showed lower reactive-oxygen species production. These data suggest that a compromise in neutrophil function may be a potential biomarker for BRONJ susceptibility.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/35607 |
| Date | 11 July 2013 |
| Creators | Favot, Christa Louise |
| Contributors | Glogauer, Michael, Clokie, Cameron |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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