Orthopedic Uses of Teriparatide

• Published in: Current osteoporosis reports 2010-03, Vol.8 (1), p.28-33
• Main Authors: Bukata, Susan V., Puzas, J. Edward
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Back Pain - drug therapy; Bone Density Conservation Agents - therapeutic use; Bone Resorption; Cartilage - drug effects; Epidemiology; Fracture Healing - drug effects; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Musculoskeletal Diseases - drug therapy; Orthopedics; Osteoporosis - drug therapy; Teriparatide - therapeutic use
• ISSN: 1544-1873; 1544-2241
• DOI: 10.1007/s11914-010-0006-3

Teriparatide is a drug currently approved for treating patients with osteoporosis who are at high risk for future fracture. In the treatment of osteoporosis, teriparatide works as an anabolic agent stimulating bone formation throughout the skeleton by principally enhancing osteoblast-derived bone formation relative to osteoclast-derived bone resorption. The net effect is increased bone mass. For patients with a fracture, a similar process of increased bone formation is required transiently at the fracture site for repair. Teriparatide has been investigated in animal models and in patients as a potential agent to enhance fracture repair. In addition, evidence that teriparatide enhances chondrogenesis has generated interest in using the agent for articular cartilage repair. Research is currently underway to understand the effects teriparatide may have on mesenchymal stem cells, and on other effects that have been reported anecdotally in patients using the drug for osteoporosis care, including the healing of fracture nonunions and a decreased incidence of back pain. We review the current animal and human reports available on the uses of teriparatide in musculoskeletal diseases beyond osteoporosis.