Drug Cures Osteoporosis in Mice and Rats

Boston (DbTechNo) - A new drug has been used to cure osteoporosis in rats and mice, a breakthrough that could one day benefit human patients.

Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by brittle and weak bones which puts them at risk of fracture.

The condition is often diagnosed in postmenopausal women, because of a reduction in hormones in the body which effects the strength of bones.

The drug inhibits serotonin in the gut, a key factor present which is believed to be a major cause of osteoporosis.

In the clinical trial mice and rats were given doses of the compound after being genetically altered to develop postmenopausal osteoporosis.

The treatment reversed osteoporosis in some mice, and prevented it from even occuring in others.

“If you break the bone, it looks like a normal bone,” said Dr. Gerard Karsenty of Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

The study is published in the journal Nature Medicine.