Can statins reduce side-effects of osteoporosis drugs?
Armed with this knowledge and with the help of the pharmaceutical industry, they are now testing whether statins can prevent the fever and aches that some patients suffer after their bisphosphonate treatment. “Our laboratory studies are also helping us to design modified versions of bisphosphonates that inhibit different enzymes and therefore may lack these side-effects. Hopefully this will lead to better treatments for the future”, says Professor Rogers. Together with Dr Miep Helfrich, a senior lecturer in the group and previous recipient of an arc Career Development Fellowship, Professor Rogers is also about to embark on a five-year arc programme grant to identify and study molecular switches in bone cells. “These proteins, called small GTPases, are essential for controlling how all cells in the body function and survive. We know very little about what they do in bone cells, but they’re likely to play important roles in controlling the normal behaviour of bone-forming and bone-destro
