Preventive anti-resorptive drug administration in disuse osteoporosis might preserve trabecular connectivity

INTRODUCTION Osteoporosis is caused by altered bone forming osteoblast and bone resorbing osteoclast activities, causing degenerated bone structure. In disuse osteoporosis reduced loads cause this condition. It is often treated with anti-resorptive drugs (ARD), which preserve bone mass and fracture resistance. We developed a theory for bone modeling and remodeling as governed by mechanical forces (Huiskes, 2000). In this work we investigated whether the theory can describe the known morphological effects of osteoporosis and anti-resorptive drug treatment on trabecular structure. We then asked the question whether preventive treatment could preserve bone mass and structure on the long term.