[Anabolic treatment for osteoporosis: PTH treatment]

There are several lines of evidence about the effectiveness of parathyroid hormone (PTH) as a bone anabolic reagent for the treatment of osteoporosis, and the large-scale randomized controlled trial revealed that PTH increases and reduces lumbar spine bone mineral density and fracture risk, respectively, more potently than other inhibitors for bone resorption. Moreover, alendronate was useful for the further increase in bone mineral density after the withdrawal of PTH treatment, and the combined treatment of PTH and raloxifene was additive. On the other hand, strontium ranelate significantly inhibited osteoporotic fractures in randomized placebo controlled trial, which is expected as a new bone anabolic reagent for osteoporosis.