A group of UW-Madison scientists have developed a promising compound to help treat osteoporosis, a disease that affects an estimated 44 million Americans, especially post-menopausal women, according to a report released this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
\We're all excited about it,"" said Dr. Hector DeLuca, a UW-Madison biochemistry professor and the lead researcher for the project.
The compound, known as 2MD, is a vitamin D analog that has been shown to effectively replace bone lost to osteoporosis. Vitamin D previously could not be used to treat the disease due to its potential for negative side effects.
""It's a vitamin D-3 hormone analog,"" said Dr. Nirupama Shevde, a UW-Madison associate scientist in biochemistry and a researcher on the project. ""They modified the structure, making it better.""
The current treatment for osteoporosis often involves hormone replacement therapy. Recently, however, hormone replacement therapy has been criticized because new evidence points to an increased risk of cancer with therapy.
DeLuca, who has been developing this analog for nearly a decade, said he has been modifying the molecule to make it effective on bone tissue. The potency of the compound is what allows 2MD to avoid the negative side effects generally associated with vitamin D.
""We've got a compound that is very selective for bone,"" DeLuca said. ""It is very effective in animals.""
The team of scientists found that the compound significantly increased bone density in rats. Also, the compound can be used in labs to grow bone in culture.
The researchers said they are excited about the new compound because it actually has been shown to rebuild bone instead of just slowing the decay of old bone. This is a significant development in the treatment of bone-loss diseases.
""The big difference in our drug is our drug builds bone,"" said Lori Plum, a UW-Madison research associate in biochemistry and a researcher on the project.
The cells responsible for building bones, known as osteoblasts, are the cells specifically affected by 2MD.
""There's nothing like it on the market now,"" DeLuca said. ""We think it could become a major actor, but we haven't done any experiments in people.""
It could be several years before the drug is introduced in the marketplace, DeLuca said. The Food and Drug Administration requires that safety standards be satisfied before any new drug can be used commercially.
""The first hoop you jump through is to make sure your treatment is safe,"" Plum said.
The team is ready to begin experiments with humans as early as mid-November.
""From where I sit, this is the most promising vitamin D compound I've seen,"" DeLuca said. ""We're pumped.\
