Osteoporosis drug may slow cartilage loss

DENVER, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A drug used for osteoporosis may slow or even reverse cartilage loss from osteoarthritis, U.S. researchers say.

Injured mice treated with parathyroid hormone -- known as teriparatide in drug form -- had 27 percent more joint cartilage than controls treated with saline solution.

A second group of mice did not receive treatment until eight weeks after injury -- once the osteoarthritic process was under way and some cartilage lost -- and the drug resulted in up to 35 percent more cartilage than found in the control group.

"Right now physicians have no way to bring back cartilage in patients who have lost it to osteoarthritis," Dr. Randy Rosier of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York said in a statement.

"It's remarkable enough that this compound delays the loss of cartilage, but these results show it also may be able to restore, at least to some extent, cartilage in already degraded joint surfaces."

The study used Forteo/teriparatide, manufactured by Eli Lilly or a generic version of teriparatide made by Sigma, Rosier said.

The study findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Denver.