R01AG065154

Beta1-selective blockade for prevention of postmenopausal bone loss: a randomized controlled trial.

Osteoporosis is a disease of aging that leads to approximately 2 million fractures and approximately $17 billion in healthcare costs annually. Although several drugs are FDA-approved for the treatment of osteoporosis, the potential for serious side effects (e.g., osteonecrosis of the jaw, atypical femur fractures) has led most physicians to use these drugs only for the treatment, but not the prevention, of osteoporosis. This has led to the current situation where most postmenopausal women must wait until they develop frank osteoporosis (i.e., fractures, or sufficiently high fracture risk) to begin drug therapy.

As such, there is a compelling need for novel, relatively low-risk and low-cost pharmacological approaches to prevent osteoporosis. The current proposal aims to translate evidence from rodent studies showing that the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is an important regulator of bone metabolism to a simple, cost-effective, and safe approach for osteoporosis prevention.

In key preliminary data, we obtained multiple lines of evidence to establish clearly the role of the SNS in regulating human bone metabolism. A critical component of these data was a "proof-of-concept" interventional study demonstrating that beta1-selective blockers (atenolol, nebivolol), but not a non-selective beta-AR blocker (propranolol), have favorable effects on bone turnover and bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women. Based on these data, we will perform a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 2-year clinical trial addressing the following specific aims:

(1) Test the hypothesis that treatment with a widely used, inexpensive, and relatively beta1-selective blocker (atenolol) will prevent bone loss at the lumbar spine and femur neck as assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 420 postmenopausal women without pre-existing osteoporosis (Aim 1A); and evaluate the tolerability and safety of atenolol when used for the prevention of bone loss (Aim 1B).

(2) Evaluate the effects of atenolol on trabecular and cortical bone microarchitecture using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (Aim 2A), on bone turnover markers (Aim 2B), and test whether baseline measures of bone turnover or of sympathetic activity (resting heart rate, plasma catecholamine levels) are predictive of the BMD response to atenolol over 2 years (Aim 2C).

(3) In a subset of patients, explore the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms for the effects of beta1-selective blockade on bone in humans using analyses of osteoblast populations isolated from bone biopsies as well as tissue-level bone formation rates on quadruple-labelled bone biopsies (Aim 3).

The proposed studies will rigorously test whether atenolol is efficacious and safe for the prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and also further define the mechanisms of SNS effects on bone in humans. If our proposed clinical trial demonstrates protection from bone loss in postmenopausal women by atenolol, this would fill a crucial clinical need, as these women currently have virtually no pharmacological options for osteoporosis prevention.

Mayo Clinic

TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.866 - Aging Research

National Institute on Aging (NIA) [HHS - NIH]

Minnesota United States

State-Wide

Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Required) (PA-19-055)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 412% from $2,347,808 to $12,029,156.