Innervation of bones. Autonomic innervation. Part two (literature review)

Peripheral nerves are involved in bone development, repair, and remodeling.  The sympathetic nervous system is one of the main links between the central nervous system and the skeleton, as confirmed by a number of anatomical, pharmacological, and genetic studies on signal transmission through β-adrenergic receptors (βAR) in bone cells.

The aim is to analyze publications devoted to the contribution of the autonomic nervous system to the control of bone tissue metabolism.

Materials and methods. Data were searched in the scientific literature databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Crossref, and eLibrary in English and Russian. In the process of writing the article, the method of analysis and synthesis of information was used. Most of the works included in this review have been published in the last 20 years.

Results: Data from in vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that adrenergic nerve structures contribute to bone loss by simultaneously enhancing bone catabolism and reducing bone anabolism.  Activation of cholinergic neural structures inhibits bone resorption, leading to an increase in bone mass.

Conclusions: The influence of the autonomic nervous system on bone remodeling and its main mechanisms have been extensively studied in experimental rodent models, however, the significance of these results for human clinical pathophysiology remains a subject of debate, and regardless of their future validity and practical application at present, these data represent a promising basis for further research.