New drug form may help treat osteoporosis, calcium-related disorders.

[2greys]

A novel form of a drug used to treat osteoporosis that comes with the potential for fewer side effects may provide a new option for patients.

The work is supported by the National Institutes of Health and is published in Biophysical Journal.

Purdue University innovators developed a stabilized form of human calcitonin, which is a peptide drug already used for people with osteoporosis. Researchers at Purdue created a prodrug form of the peptide hormone to increase its effectiveness as an osteoporosis treatment.

In humans, calcitonin is the hormone responsible for normal calcium homeostasis. When prescribed to osteoporosis patients, calcitonin inhibits bone resorption, resulting in increased bone mass.

Unfortunately, human calcitonin undergoes fibrillation in aqueous solution, leading to reduced efficacy when used as a therapeutic. As a substitute, osteoporosis patients are prescribed salmon calcitonin. It does not fibrillate as rapidly but suffers from low potency and the potential for several adverse side effects.

bioengineer.org/new-drug-fo...

Ufortuanatley, the included Biophysical Journal link is behind a paywall.

[Snackjack]

I have osteoporosis and refused the bisphosphonates as the research that I did I was not happy with as I got the impression that eventually they would just make the bones brittle and just as likely to break. Some of them were not compatible with other medication I take and from memory I was left with limited options of the bisphosphonates which deeply concerned me as to what would happen if I got some really bad side effects. Once the stuff was in me there would be no way of getting it out. The whole concept of bisphosphonates really scared me.