Romosozumab treatment
Introduction
Romosozumab is a monoclonal antibody that connects sclerostin which ends up affecting the bone by minizing bone resorption and increasing the rate of bone formation. This has been found to have positive impacts in all the aspects of volume regulation of the bones. However, this only occurs mostly on women in postmenopausal age who have a low bone mass. Studies have revealed that the low bone mass stimulates romosozumab bone formation while at the same time decreasing the resorption rate of the bone while increasing the level of areal (aBMD) which can only be compared to placebo (Genant et al, 2017).. This is a finding that was arrived at after two phases of a study was conducted whereby the participants had received the placebo and later a performance level of the lumbar spine was conducted. The study took one year of observation to evaluate the ways in which the patient performed after the treatment.
Background
Women who have reached menopause are at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis and this requires treatment or else it will affect their level of health and life. Osteoporosis is a medical condition that which affects the bones making them fragile and brittle in nature. In the end those affected by this condition may end up losing a lot of tissues due to hormonal changes or as a result of calcium deficiency in their body and at times because of vitamin D. The only way in which osteoporosis can be diagonized is through X-rays and several tests which requires that the bone density to be measured (Golob, AL & Laya, 2015). However, this medical condition becomes more common with age especially because the individuals are not exercising enough as required. In this regard, a study on romosozumab treatment was conducted to determine its effectiveness in solving the problem of osteoporosis among women who are postmenopausal age.
Methods
In a phase 2 of clinical study, women who have reached the age of 50 and above who were at the greatest risk of contracting the condition were placed through clinical study (McClung et al, 2014). The selection method involved those who had low bone mass. The selection was done randomly after which they were assigned five closing regimens levels of romosozumab. The patients were then observed through DXA, a common technique that is being used to diagnose those who are suffering from osteoporosis. They were then monitored through BMD to check the manner in which they responded to the osteoporosis therapy.
The aim of DXA was to help in cortical bone compartments and trabecular and at the same time limit the geometric formation. The cortical bone together with the trabecular was found to be important in providing strength with the main influence being on age, micro-architectural, and skeletal distribution (Genant et al, 2017). Those who were conducting the study ensured that they checked the manner in which the patients responded to the therapy at each of the compartments because they expected that DXA would influence the bone strength while at the same time minimizing the level of fracture achieved. Geometricand densiometric methods were used to measure the integral regions (McClung et al, 2014). At the same time, a QCT scan was conducted in order to assess the ways in which the romosozumab which was administered on the patients for the last one year was working on the parameters of the bone particularly in the lumbar spine and also within the total hip (Genant et al, 2017). This was then compared with teriparatide and placebo.
Results
The QTC scan showed that at the month of 12, those women who had received the romosozumab treatment, their DXA had significantly increased in the same measure as their BMC and aBMD. The scan also showed that the participant’s hips and spine looked better than before with great aaBMD changes having taken place.
Observation
The main observation that was made regarding this mode of treatment was that romosozumab had the potential to work effectively on women who had reached their menopause. In this regard, they had not to worry about their hip base reducing or their level of health becoming low as a result of osteoporosis. The study found that romosozuman had a dual positive impact on the bone by helping in increasing the rate of modeling the base of formation while at the same time decreasing the resorportion rates (Genant et al, 2017). This method was found to be more effective in treating Osteoporosis compared to teriparatide method which had been used before because this method only provided one benefit which is remodeling of the base bone to allow formation to take place. The QCT showed there was a great difference in the formation of the hip bones when romosozumab treatment was used on the patient.
In conclusion, though romosozumab therapy took a long period of time, it was anticipated that it will help in bringing about long term health benefit to the women without them having to worry to conform to a particular lifestyle. The overall improvement in their cortical bone was massive and this would help in providing mechanical strength.
References
Genant, K.H., Engelke, K., Bolognese, MAQ., Mautalen, C. & Grauer, A. (2017). Effects of romosozumab compared with teriparatide on bone density and mass at the spine and hip in postmenopausal women with low bone mass. JBMR 32(1), 181-187.
Golob, AL & Laya, MB (2015). Osteoporosis: Screening, Prevention, and Management. The Medical clinics of North America. 99 (3): 587–606
McClung, MR, Grauer A., & Boonen S, et al (2014). Romosozumab in postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density. N Engl J Med 370(5), 412–20.