Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Dec;10(4):278-85.
doi: 10.1007/s11914-012-0117-0.

Spinal cord injury-induced osteoporosis: pathogenesis and emerging therapies

Ricardo A Battaglino  1 , Antonio A Lazzari, Eric Garshick, Leslie R Morse
Affiliations
Review

Spinal cord injury-induced osteoporosis: pathogenesis and emerging therapies

Ricardo A Battaglino et al. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Spinal cord injury causes rapid, severe osteoporosis with increased fracture risk. Mechanical unloading after paralysis results in increased osteocyte expression of sclerostin, suppressed bone formation, and indirect stimulation of bone resorption. At this time, there are no clinical guidelines to prevent bone loss after SCI, and fractures are common. More research is required to define the pathophysiology and epidemiology of SCI-induced osteoporosis. This review summarizes emerging therapeutics including anti-sclerostin antibodies, mechanical loading of the lower extremity with electrical stimulation, and mechanical stimulation via vibration therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure

The authors reported no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A possible mechanism to explain a decrease of bone mass and increase fragility in chronic SCI. Immediately after SCI sclerostin levels increase preceding bone loss. In chronic SCI bone wasting is associated with lower sclerostin levels due fewer sclerostin-producing osteocytes in the osteoporotic bone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Spinal cord injury facts and figures at a glance. The journal of spinal cord medicine. 2012;35:68–69. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Szollar SM, Martin EM, Sartoris DJ, et al. Bone mineral density and indexes of bone metabolism in spinal cord injury. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1998;77:28–35. - PubMed
    1. Morse LR, Battaglino RA, Stolzmann KL, et al. Osteoporotic fractures and hospitalization risk in chronic spinal cord injury. Osteoporos Int. 2009;20:385–392. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Morse LR, Giangregorio L, Battaglino RA, et al. VA-based survey of osteoporosis management in spinal cord injury. PMR. 2009;1:240–244. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Garland DE, Saucedo T, Reiser TV. The management of tibial fractures in acute spinal cord injury patients. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1986:237–240. - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances