Pill 'could cure osteoporosis'

The bone thinning disease osteoporosis could potentially be cured by a pill that blocks production of a natural chemical in the gut, according to scientists.

The drug, which was tested on mice and rats, prevents the synthesis of serotonin. Scientists believe it could have a similar impact in humans. Serotonin, when found in the brain, aids the transmission of messages between nerve cell and affects mood.

However, researchers said that 95% of the body's serotonin is found in the gut and inhibits bone formation. The scientists shut off intestinal serotonin using an experimental drug called LP533401, which prevented osteoporosis in post-menopausal female mice. The menopause increases the risk of osteoporosis dramatically in humans.

The drug was included in the animals' diet in small doses for six weeks and the results published in the journal Nature Medicine show that LP533401 successfully prevented osteoporosis developing, or where the disease was already present, fully cured it. It did this without altering the serotonin levels in the brain.

Dr Gerard Karsenty, from Columbia University Medical Centre in New York, said: "New therapies that inhibit the production of serotonin in the gut have the potential to become a novel class of drugs to be added to the therapeutic arsenal against osteoporosis."

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