Published online Nov 26, 2014. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v6.i5.637
Revised: September 5, 2014
Accepted: September 17, 2014
Published online: November 26, 2014
Processing time: 67 Days and 16.6 Hours
Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is well-known as the principal regulator of calcium homeostasis in the human body and controls bone metabolism via actions on the survival and activation of osteoblasts. The intermittent administration of PTH has been shown to stimulate bone production in mice and men and therefore PTH administration has been recently approved for the treatment of osteoporosis. Besides to its physiological role in bone remodelling PTH has been demonstrated to influence and expand the bone marrow stem cell niche where hematopoietic stem cells, capable of both self-renewal and differentiation, reside. Moreover, intermittent PTH treatment is capable to induce mobilization of progenitor cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream. This novel function of PTH on modulating the activity of the stem cell niche in the bone marrow as well as on mobilization and regeneration of bone marrow-derived stem cells offers new therapeutic options in bone marrow and stem cell transplantation as well as in the field of ischemic disorders.
Core tip: Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is the principal regulator of calcium homeostasis in the human body and controls bone metabolism. Besides to its physiological role in bone remodelling PTH has been demonstrated to influence and expand the bone marrow stem cell niche as well as to induce mobilization of progenitor cells from the bone marrow into the bloodstream. This novel function of PTH on modulating the activity of the stem cell niche in the bone marrow as well as on mobilization and regeneration of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells offers new therapeutic options in bone marrow and stem cell transplantation as well as in the field of ischemic disorders.