Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute’s Florida campus have identified a potential new therapeutic approach to osteoporosis which could promote the development of new bone-forming cells, according to the preliminary findings of a recently published study.
In the study, which was published last Friday in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers concocted a new compound designed to repress biological activity in the the protein known as PPARy. They did so in light of research which found partial PPARy loss in a genetically engineered mouse model to lead to increased bone formation, according to a public release published on EurekAlert.
The results of the study indicated that the treatment of human mesenchymal stem cells, which are derived from bone marrow and can develop into several different cell types, with the synthesized compound resulted in a statistically significant increase in osteoblast formation — a cell type known to form bone.
According to Patrick Griffin, chair of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics and director of the Translational Research Institute at Scripps Florida, was quoted in the aforementioned EurekAlert release as having said that the study’s preliminary “findings demonstrate for the first time a new therapeutic application for drugs targeting PPARy” and the next step entails the execution of “an in-depth analysis of the drug’s efficacy in animal models of bone loss, aging, obesity and diabetes.”
These findings demonstrate for the first time a new therapeutic application for drugs targeting PPARy, which has been the focus of efforts to develop insulin sensitizers to treat type 2 diabetes (…) We have already demonstrated SR2595 has suitable properties for testing in mice; the next step is to perform an in-depth analysis of the drug’s efficacy in animal models of bone loss, aging, obesity and diabetes.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
While researchers behind the study managed to identify a potential new therapeutic treatment for bone less, The Economic Times reports that the study “may have even broader implications.”
An unrelated study found hormone therapy to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and bowel cancer while increasing the risk of breast cancer.
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