Endocrine Abstracts

Bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mass are quantitative traits that are the result of the two balanced processed of bone resorption and bone formation. Often they are used as a surrogate phenotype for the diagnosis of osteoporosis, characterized by an increased fracture risk due to a decreased bone mass and deterioration of the microarchitecture of the bone.Variation in BMD is determined by both environmental and genetic factors with 50–85% of the...

Fractures are associated with suffering and increased mortality in patients and great costs for society. It is well established that sex steroids are important regulators of skeletal growth and bone metabolism and estrogen is known to protect against bone loss and prevent fractures. Estrogen not only protects the female skeleton, but is also associated with bone mass and fracture risk in the male skeleton. However, the use of this hormone as a therapeutic drug against bone los...

Most currently available agents for the treatment of osteoporosis decrease bone resorption and turnover to varying degrees but do not stimulate the formation of new bone that is essential for the management of patients with severe disease. Teriparatide, the most extensively studied bone -forming treatment stimulates not only bone formation but also resorption, acts mainly at sites undergoing active remodeling and increases cortical porosity. The newly developed PTHrP analogue,...