Study of diabetic bone fragility in PEDF-deficient mice

In this work, we studied the effects of the PEDF gene on lipid and carbohydrate metabolism and bone microarchitecture in a mouse model. The pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF), also known as SERPINF1, is a 50 kDa glycoprotein of the serine proteinase inhibitor (SERPIN) superfamily. It has been observed that this gene is responsible for bone diseases such as osteogenesis imperfecta type VI and that the expression of this gene is increased in serum in type 2 diabetic patients, which have an increased risk of bone fracture. We investigated whether there is a link between the PEDF gene and the increased risk of bone fracture in a diabetic context. My work consists of studying this relationship, using PEDF KO mice and a high fat diet (HFD), which induces impaired glucose tolerance and impacts the skeleton. I showed that the absence of PEDF reduced the number and connectivity of trabeculae and increased the density of bone tissue. My results showed that the high-fat diet had an impact on the metaphyseal cortex of the femur and on lipid and carbohydrate metabolism