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The insulin-sensitizing drugs rosiglitazone and pioglitazone lower glucose in diabetic patients by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ). These receptors are also found in bone, and animal research suggests that PPAR-γ activation may induce bone loss by suppressing osteoblast function. In this randomized study from New Zealand, researchers evaluated the effect of rosiglitazone on bone density in humans.
Fifty healthy postmenopausal women (mean age, 68) received either rosiglitazone (8 mg daily) or placebo for 14 weeks. Mean serum levels of two markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin and procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide) decreased significantly in the rosiglitazone group, but not in the placebo group. Moreover…