Bone
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Time-dependent changes in skeletal response to teriparatide: escalating vs. constant dose teriparatide (PTH 1-34) in osteoporotic women.
Once-daily injections of teriparatide initially increase biochemical markers of bone formation and resorption, but markers peak after 6-12 months and then decline despite continued treatment. We sought to determine whether increasing teriparatide doses in a stepwise fashion could prolong skeletal responsiveness. We randomized 52 postmenopausal women with low spine and/or hip bone mineral density (BMD) to either a constant or an escalating subcutaneous teriparatide dose (30 μg daily for 18months or 20 μg daily for 6 months, then 30 μg daily for 6 months, and then 40 μg daily for 6 months). ⋯ Acute renal response to teriparatide, as assessed by urinary cyclic AMP, did not change over 18 months of teriparatide administration. In conclusion, stepwise increases in teriparatide prevented the decline in bone turnover markers that is observed with chronic administration without altering BMD increases. The time-dependent waning of the response to teriparatide appears to be bone-specific.
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As the gateway of nutrient supply, the vertebral endplate is essential to maintain the integrity and function of the avascular intervertebral disk. While a link between calcium deposition in the endplate and disk degeneration is well established from histological studies, findings on the association between endplate thickness and age and disk degeneration are conflicting. Moreover, the association between endplate bone mineral density (BMD) and disk degeneration remains unexplored in humans. ⋯ In the lumbar spine, both the thickness and BMD of endplates were independent of age, which ranged from 21 to 64 years. The endplates cranial to intervertebral disks were thicker and had higher BMD than the corresponding caudal endplates. Judged from discography, more degeneration in the adjacent intervertebral disk was associated with greater endplate thickness, but not higher endplate BMD. Thus, endplate sclerosis, reflecting elevated endplate BMD, may not be a risk factor for disk pathology in men.