Correlation between serum levels of RANKL with osteoporosis in patients with beta thalassemia major

Osteoporosis is a major problem in patients with B-thalassemia major. Osteoclasts hyperactivity, which increases serum levels of receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Β ligand (RANKL), plays an important role in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis in these patients. The aim of this study was to study the relationship between serum levels of RANKL and osteoporosis in patients with beta thalassemia major. 52 patients with beta thalassemia major and 22 people with thalassemia minor without any osteoporosis symptoms as controls were entered the study. Six ml of peripheral blood was obtained for hematologic and serum RANKL measurements. The mean of bone mineral density in patients were 0.57 ± 0.3 and 0.69 ± 0.11 in femur and vertebra, respectively. There were significant differences between hematologic parameters of patients and controls. The mean of patient’s serum RANKL level was 198.4pg/mL and in controls was 112.25pg/mL. There was a correlation between decrease of femur BMD (p<0.02) and increase of RANKL level. Our findings demonstrate that increases of serum levels of RANKL in patients with beta thalassemia major may lead to the osteoporosis, and thus, the detection of RANKL, could be usful for early diagnosis of osteoporosis.