Concentration of Selected Osteotropic Growth Factors and Markers of Osteogenesis in the Blood of Somatically Healthy Children and Adults

Abstract

Currently, many studies are conducted on the concentration of growth factors and markers of osteogenesis in various human pathologies. However, there are still no data on the normal levels of growth factors and their receptors in the blood serum. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the serum concentrations of some osteotropic growth factors and osteogenesis markers in somatically healthy children and adults of different age periods. The growth factors were assayed by means of a Thermofisher set of equipment (United States). Analysis was performed as recommended in manuals to the kits purchased from eBioscience (TGF-β_1.2; VEGF-A; VEGF-R2, R3), Immunodiagnostic Systems (IGF-1; osteocalcin; 1,25-ergocalciferol; CrossLaps), Invitrogen (VEGF), RayBiotech (FGF-basic, acidic; TGF-α; SCF; SCF sR) (United States); Mediagnost (IGF-2), QULDEL (PYD), and Enzo (DKK-1) (Germany). There were no significant differences in the following serum concentrations between gender and age groups: PYD, 1,25-ergocalciferol, TGF-β₁, FGF-basic, and IGF-2. Age-related differences were observed in the following factors: CrossLaps, osteocalcin, VEGF-R3, VEGF-A, and IGF-1. Sex-related differences were observed in the VEGF-R2 and VEGF. For the other growth factors and receptors, both sex- and age-related differences were observed.