Combination anabolic and antiresorptive therapy for osteoporosis.

Osteoanabolic agents directly stimulate bone formation to improve bone mass and skeletal microarchitecture. At present, parathyroid hormone (PTH), in the form of the full-length molecule (PTH(1-84)) and its fully active, but truncated amino-terminal fragment, PTH(1-34) (teriparatide), are the only medications that belong to the osteoanabolic class. It is appealing to consider simultaneous combination therapy with antiresorptive and osteoanabolic drugs as potentially more beneficial than monotherapy with either class, given that their mechanisms of action differ. This review focuses on the research that has been conducted on combination therapy with PTH and an antiresorptive drug.