Therapeutic Treatments for Osteoporosis—Which Combination of Pills Is the Best among the Bad?

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a chronical, systemic skeletal disorder characterized by an increase in bone resorption, which leads to reduced bone density. The reduction in bone mineral density and therefore low bone mass results in an increased risk of fractures. Osteoporosis is caused by an imbalance in the normally strictly regulated bone homeostasis. This imbalance is caused by overactive bone-resorbing osteoclasts, while bone-synthesizing osteoblasts do not compensate for this. In this review, the mechanism is presented, underlined by in vitro and animal models to investigate this imbalance as well as the current status of clinical trials. Furthermore, new therapeutic strategies for osteoporosis are presented, such as anabolic treatments and catabolic treatments and treatments using biomaterials and biomolecules. Another focus is on new combination therapies with multiple drugs which are currently considered more beneficial for the treatment of osteoporosis than monotherapies. Taken together, this review starts with an overview and ends with the newest approaches for osteoporosis therapies and a future perspective not presented so far.

Characteristics and osteogenic mechanism of glycosylated peptides-calcium chelate

“…According to the different action mechanisms, they can be divided into bone resorption inhibitors (bisphosphonates, estrogen, calcitonin), bone formation promoters (fluoride, strontium preparations), and bone mineralization drugs (Vitamin D, calcium preparations). However, various side effects and high costs limit the application of the first two treatments ( Tonk et al, 2022 ). Therefore, finding practical components to promote bone mineralization will be an efficient way to regulate bone mass.…”

Effect of hydrogen sulphide containing mineral water on experimental osteoporosis in rats

“…Due to very serious comorbidities the growing number of patients is not able to be treated with pharmacological therapy. 3 This represents a major challenge for treatment safety and encourages investigation of new therapeutic modalities.…”

Methyltransferase‐like 3 modulates osteogenic differentiation of adipose‐derived stem cells in osteoporotic rats

“…Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic chronic metabolic disease characterized by abnormal bone metabolism, osteopenia and incomplete bone microarchitecture, leading to an increased risk of osteoporotic fractures 1,2 . The abnormal bone metabolism in patients with osteoporosis mainly manifests through hyperfunction of osteoclasts 3 and a decrease in the number and activity of osteoblasts, 4 resulting in clinical symptoms such as delayed fracture union, non‐union and bone defects 5,6 .…”