The group of Prof. Dr. Jan Tuckermann (Institute for Comparative Molecular Endocrinology) has published a trailblazing review article in cooperation with the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Bone Diseases, Department of Medicine III, Technical University of Dresden in the renowned journal Physiological Reviews (IF 27).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26842265Hartmann K, Koenen M, Schauer S, Wittig-Blaich S, Ahmad M, Baschant U, Tuckermann JP.
Physiol Rev. 2016 Apr;96(2):409-47
Glucocorticoids such as cortisol are frequently used to treat inflammatory diseases while affecting cartilaginous bone growth and causing glucocorticoid induced osteoporosis. This determines tremendously the inflammatory reaction and regenerative processes during physical trauma. In this timely review recent progress in the understanding of cellular molecular mechanisms is discussed in depth. Special emphasis is given on the results obtained by conditional mutant animal models and state-of-the-art molecular techniques such as studies of the genome wide binding of the GR. An outlook is described how optimized therapies could be designed to spare bone and cartilage. This review is among the most comprehensive articles about glucocorticoid functions in bone and cartilage also in the context of inflammatory processes and the metabolic syndrome.