Serum osteoprotegerin levels are reduced in patients with multiple myeloma with lytic bone disease

Osteoprotegerin (OPG), the neutralizing decoy receptor for the osteoclast activator RANK ligand, was measured in serum taken from patients with multiple myeloma at the time of diagnosis. Median OPG was lower in the patients with myeloma (7.4 ng/mL; range, 2.6-80; n = 225) than in healthy age- and sex-matched controls (9.0 ng/mL; range 5.1-130; n = 40; P = .02). Importantly, OPG levels were associated with degree of radiographically assessed skeletal destruction (P = .01). The median OPG level in patients lacking osteolytic lesions was 9.1 ng/mL, as compared with 7.6 ng/mL and 7.0 ng/mL, respectively, in patients with minor or advanced osteolytic disease. Furthermore, OPG levels were associated with World Health Organization performance status (P = .003) and correlated to serum levels of carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP; P < .001) but not with clinical stage or survival. These findings suggest impaired OPG function in myeloma and give a rationale for OPG as a therapeutic agent against myeloma bone disease. (C) 2001 by The American Society of Hematology.