Bone turnover markers to explain changes in lumbar spine BMD with abaloparatide and teriparatide: results from ACTIVE

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Abaloparatide and Teriparatide.

Early PINP changes correlate with 18-month lumbar spine BMD changes and the correlation was greater with abaloparatide versus teriparatide.

The uncoupling index was similar between the two agents.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 189 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, women only.

Blood samples were taken for measurement of bone turnover markers (BTMs) s-PINP and s-CTX at baseline, 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months from 189 abaloparatide patients and 227 teriparatide patients randomly selected from all participants who completed the study.

A UI was calculated using log transformation and subtraction of the standard deviate for s-CTX from the standard deviate for s-PINP for each patient.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized and double-blind.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Abaloparatide and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Abaloparatide, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

BMD was measured by DXA at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months.

Correlations were calculated between log ratio of BTMs from baseline to 3 months and percent change from baseline in BMD at 18 months.

What Was Measured

The researchers evaluated the relationship between early PINP changes and subsequent changes in spine BMD following abaloparatide and teriparatide treatments.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Biomarkers, Bone Density, Bone Density Conservation Agents, Bone Remodeling, Collagen Type I, Lumbar Vertebrae and Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal.

Author keywords: Abaloparatide, Bone mineral density, Bone turnover markers, Procollagen type I N propeptide, Teriparatide and Uncoupling index.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Abaloparatide and Teriparatide in 189 patients.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2019 (Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA), a journal based in England.

More context: the Abaloparatide compound page and the Teriparatide compound page, all human trials.