Although teriparatide is available for treating osteoporosis, its widespread use in patients who are undergoing periodontal surgery should await results from studies involving larger numbers of patients, Dr. McCauley said. She also cautioned against extrapolating the results to other types of bone surgery. Dr. McCauley said she would like to run studies on a delayed-release, topical formulation of teriparatide that would be implanted during surgery and would then release over the subsequent 6 weeks, precluding daily injections. Formulations of this type now exist, but have not reached the clinical-testing stage.
The study received partial funding from Eli Lilly & Co., the company that markets teriparatide (Forteo), but it was an investigator-initiated study. Dr. McCauley has received research grants and transportation support from Lilly. She has also received research grants and has been a consultant to Amgen Inc., but she has not received any honoraria or consulting fees. Dr. Bashutski said she has received travel expenses from the Colgate-Palmolive Co. Dr. Grey said that he has received travel expenses from Merck Sharp & Dohme (NZ) Ltd.
Improvements in periodontal probing depth and clinical attachment were significant.
Source DR. BASHUTSKI
Teriparatide increased 1-year bone gain at a rate that was 10-fold higher than placebo. 'That's huge.'
Source DR. McCAULEY