α-Difluoromethylornithine inhibits bone resorption in vitro without decreasing β-glucuronidase release

Our previous studies suggested that the ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) inhibits bone resorption by mechanisms that are independent of polyamine depletion. To determine whether DFMO prevents calcitriol-stimulated bone resorption by acting at a step before or after osteoclast activation, we compared the effects of DFMO on release of calcium and β-glucuronidase from cultured neonatal mouse calvaria. DFMO, at concentrations of 7.5-20 mM, inhibited release of calcium from calcitriol-stimulated calvaria but failed to inhibit the calcitriol-stimulated increase in β-glucuronidase secretion. In contrast, ornithine, putrescine, spermidine, and spermine, at concentrations with effects on resorption comparable to those of DFMO, inhibited the effects of calcitriol on both calcium and β-glucuronidase release. NaF (0.2 mM), like DFMO, inhibited calcitriol-stimulated calcium release without affecting medium β-glucuronidase activity, whereas elevated phosphate (3 mM) inhibited both activities. The results suggest that DFMO, over the concen-tration range studied, inhibits calcium release by making the matrix resistant to resorption rather than by acting at a cellular locus.