Use of nasally administered salmon calcitonin in preventing bone loss

Summary

This article reviews several of our studies in which we evaluated the effect of nasal salmon calcitonin in preventing bone loss in normal women just after menopause. In the first study, after treatment with nasal salmon calcitonin, bone loss stopped and, in fact, actually increased slightly. In contrast, the placebo group continued to lose bone mass. On the other hand, bone mass in the forearm, which has more cortical bone, showed no change in response to nasal salmon calcitonin. The effect of salmon calcitonin nasal spray in women with established osteoporosis has also been studied. In one study, bone mass in the forearm was constant in the group receiving nasal salmon calcitonin plus calcium, whereas bone mass in the placebo plus calcium group decreased by roughly 2%. Similarly, patients in the group without any treatment also lost 2%. The effect of nasal salmon calcitonin is probably the result of a reduction in the bone resorption to a level seen in premenopausal females. When women were divided according to their baseline bone turnover or initial bone mass, the women with the highest turnover level (assessed by alkaline phosphatase or fasting urinary hydroxyproline) or the lowest bone mass were the group with the greatest increase in bone mass. In conclusion, treatment with salmon calcitonin nasal spray in patients with established osteoporosis stops bone loss, normalizes bone turnover, and causes no subjective or objective side effects.