Grant: Project Grant

Fracture-related osteoporosis is a major health issue, but less than 20% of people with fragility fractures get the treatment they need. One reason for this is concerns about potential side effects and long-term issues that may arise, especially after discontinuing a specific treatment. We don't fully understand the long-term effects and how severe they might be, making it challenging to manage osteoporosis effectively. Indeed, discontinuing denosumab can lead to multiple vertebral fractures, and it is essential to understand this to improve treatment management and address osteoporosis appropriately. In this study, we're looking at a potential breakthrough in understanding how bones work. We believe that a specific treatment, denosumab, might lead to the presence of certain cells called osteomorphs in the blood. We've seen this in studies with mice, but we don't know if it happens in humans. People on chronic denosumab treatment are a great group to study because they might have these osteomorphs in their blood. Our goals are to figure out what these osteomorphs are like, how they might be related to bone health, and if they can be markers for how well osteoporosis treatments are working. We also want to explore the reasons behind the splitting and joining of certain bone cells. Ultimately, by understanding these things, we hope to predict what might happen when someone stops denosumab treatment. This knowledge could help personalize osteoporosis management, enhance bone care, ensure the safe use of denosumab-a highly effective osteoporosis treatment-and mitigate potential issues that may arise upon treatment discontinuation.