Effects of a New Conjugate Drug in a Rat Model of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

• Main Author: Liu, Careesa Chang
• Other Authors: Grynpas, Marc D.
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: osteoporosis treatment; bone formation; anabolic; conjugate; OVX; ovariectomized; rat; in vivo; endocortical; prodrug; dual-acting; EP4 agonist; alendronate; intracortical remodeling; trabecular; prostaglandin E2; 0541
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/43088

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a disease characterized by bone loss and increased risk of fracture, and represents a significant burden on the Canadian health care system. Current treatments lack the ability to simultaneously address the therapeutic needs for promoting bone formation and inhibiting resorption. Our approach employs a novel conjugate drug in which an anabolic agent (EP4 receptor agonist) is reversibly joined with an anti-resorptive agent (alendronate) through a linker. This allows the bone-targeting ability of alendronate to deliver the EP4 agonist to bone sites, thereby mitigating the side effects associated with systemic administration of the EP4 agonist. This study investigated the in vivo efficacy of this drug in a curative experiment to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis using an ovariectomized rat model. Results showed that conjugate treatment dose-dependently stimulated bone formation and restored ovariectomy-induced bone loss, and conjugation between alendronate and the EP4 agonist was crucial to the drug’s anabolic effect.