Estrogen Treatment With No Side Effects in Sight, Swedish Researchers Find
Date: 15.4.2011
Estrogen treatment for osteoporosis has often been associated with serious side effects. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have now, in mice, found a way of utilizing the positive effects of estrogen in mice so that only the skeleton is acted on, current research at the Academy shows.
The study is presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Many women are affected by osteoporosis after the menopause, when the body's production of estrogen decreases. Estrogen is the hormone that principally strengthens the bone mass in women, and it is also of significance for the skeleton in men. Treatment of osteoporosis with estrogens is, however, associated with serious side effects such as breast cancer and blood clots.
"The development of special estrogens that are tailored to bone and only affect a particular part of this type of estrogen receptor may lead to a more targeted and effective treatment for osteoporosis with minimal side effects," Professor Claes Ohlsson explains.
Original Paper:
E. Borjesson, S. H. Windahl, M. K. Lagerquist, C. Engdahl, B. Frenkel, S. Moverare-Skrtic, K. Sjogren, J. M. Kindblom, A. Stubelius, U. Islander, M. C. Antal, A. Krust, P. Chambon, C. Ohlsson. Roles of transactivating functions 1 and 2 of estrogen receptor-α in bone. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1100454108
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