الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
Abstract
Impaired autophagy and oxidative stress are implicated in the development of many diseases. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of autophagy represented by Atg7 gene (autophagy related gene 7) and oxidative stress represented by SOD2 (superoxide dismutase 2) gene expression and enzyme activity in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. Atg7 and SOD2 gene relative expression was evaluated by SYBR green Quantitative Real Time PCR (Q RT-PCR) in osteoporotic group (n=26) versus osteoporosis free group (n=14). SOD2 enzyme activity was evaluated by colorimetric method in both study groups. Both Atg7 and SOD2 relative expression showed highly significant decrease (p˂0.01) between both groups. However, SOD2 enzyme activity showed no significant difference between the two groups. There was a significant direct correlation between Atg7 and SOD2 genes in both study groups. Atg7 relative expression showed significant (p˂0.01) direct correlation with vitamin D serum levels and body mass index in osteoporotic group. In conclusion, both genes are involved in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis and this could be amenable to future therapeutic intervention.