Key words fracture osteoporosis - teriparatide - pregnancy - lactation
Schlüsselwörter osteoporotische Frakturen - Teriparatid - Schwangerschaft - Stillzeit
Introduction
Osteoporosis occurs predominantly in postmenopausal woman, and osteoporosis-related
spine and hip fractures are associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates
[1 ]. Pregnancy- and lactation-associated osteoporosis (PLO) is a rare, but in most cases
severe, type of premenopausal osteoporosis and was first described as a
clinical syndrome in 1955 by Nordin et al. Today, the incidence is estimated to
be 0.4 per 100 000 women [2 ], [3 ]. According to
the World Health Organisation (WHO), osteoporosis is defined as a T-score of − 2.5
or less at the hip or spine in postmenopausal women and men [4 ] For
premenopausal women, the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD)
suggested using the z-score to identify patients at high risk of fracture [5 ]. A
medical intervention should be considered in patients with a z-score of ≤ 2 or
accompanied by the fragility fractures during or after pregnancy. Most agents available
to treat osteoporosis are
either contraindicated or of unknown efficacy in premenopausal women, and the
possible impact on the foetus is also unknown.
PLO is a rare condition which occurs predominantly in the first pregnancy (70%), occurring
in the last trimester of pregnancy or immediately postpartum [6 ].
Pregnancy and lactation are both high maintenance periods with regard to skeletal
health. Although the mechanisms of bone mineral density alteration during those periods
are unknown [3 ], it is well documented that increased calcium requirements during foetal and neonatal
development should be met by synergistically increasing intestinal calcium
absorption [7 ]. During both pregnancy and the period of lactation, parathyroid hormone levels (PTH)
increase, leading to osteoclast activation which leads to
elevated serum calcium levels and a subsequent loss in bone mineral density [8 ]. In addition to the role of the parathyroid hormone in physiological pregnancy,
it should be noted that parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) also plays
a pivotal role in calcium homeostasis during pregnancy, which is quite distinct from
its pathophysiological
mechanism of action in the setting of tumour-induced humoral hypercalcaemia. In
contrast, serum PTH decreases during pregnancy to a low normal range during the first
trimester and may increase
back to mid-normal ranges by the end of gestation [7 ]. It is unknown why most women preserve bone homeostasis while in others, pregnancy
or lactation leads to
fragility fractures; genetic skeletal predisposition undoubtedly contributes to
this catabolic process [9 ], [10 ]. The rarity of
this disease is a key issue when diagnosing PLO. PLO should be suspected in all
pregnant or breastfeeding women complaining of severe, persistent and treatment-resistant
back and/or lower back
pain. The indistinct clinical symptoms present in pregnancy often considered to
be benign antenatal discomfort, the high incidence of musculoskeletal complaints,
and the hesitation to perform
diagnostic imaging during pregnancy often severely delay the detection of PLO.
Therefore, PLO remains underreported and undertreated [11 ], [12 ]. If undetected and untreated, PLO can lead to an accumulation of vertebral compression
fractures and subsequent fractures [13 ].
In addition to PLO with vertebral compression fractures, women may also be affected
by transient osteoporosis of the hip, a multifactorial disease of unclear aetiology
[14 ].
Physical activity, calcium intake, and vitamin D supplementation in combination with
medical intervention play a key role in the treatment of osteoporosis [15 ]. Kovacs et al. addressed this and examined non-pharmacological as well as pharmacological
approaches [9 ]. The non-pharmacological approach includes
cessation of lactation as well as calcium and vitamin D supplementation. During
lactation, an average of 300 – 400 mg of calcium is transferred daily from mother
to child, which may lead to a
maternal skeletal calcium loss of up to 5 – 10%. Remarkably, in most cases, this
amount is fully regained at 6 – 12 months after cessation of lactation; therefore,
the weaning process
constitutes a major part of treatment [16 ]. Teriparatide (recombinant human parathyroid hormone, PTH) is a bone-forming agent,
predominantly used in cases with
severe osteoporosis [15 ]. Teriparatide enhances the anabolic osteoblast process, inhibits osteoblast apoptosis,
and is hypothesised to even accelerate fracture
healing [17 ]. Failure to this mechanisms causes severe back pain and facilitates vertebral prolapse
following osteoporotic vertebral fracture, which may lead to
neurological deficits [18 ].
We conducted the present analysis to investigate the effect of teriparatide on subsequent
fracture risk and changes in lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip bone mineral
density (BMD) in
patients with PLO and at least one vertebral fracture.
Patients and Methods
We included a total of 47 patients with PLO who had suffered spine fractures postpartum
and had been referred to the German reference centre for PLO between 2004 and 2018.
This was a
retrospective study using data collected between 2006 and 2018.
Methodology
All patients completed a standardised questionnaire including detailed history of
disease and medication use known to effect bone health. Baseline characteristics were
extracted from the
data including age, height, weight, BMI, and age at menarche. We also obtained
more detailed information, such as mode of delivery, timing of PLO in the context
of the number of pregnancies,
the use of oral contraceptives and history of assisted reproductive medicine
prior to diagnosis with PLO. All BMD measurements and changes from baseline were obtained
from the German PLO
reference centre using serial dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) performed
with the same device (Prodigy; GE/Lunar). We have previously reported on the precision
error and least
significant change (LSC) of BMD measurements using this device [19 ], [20 ]. All fractures were confirmed by X-ray or MRI.
Fractured vertebrae were excluded from BMD measurements in accordance with our
standard operating procedures. All participants ceased breastfeeding once vertebral
fractures were diagnosed.
No previous history of antiresorptive treatment had been recorded, only a few
patients had been administered glucocorticoids prior to PLO (10.6%). None of the patients
had a previous history
of osteoporotic fracture prior to pregnancy. None of the included women had a
history of medication intake or disease that could interfere with bone metabolism
and lead to secondary
osteoporosis.
The treatment regimen consisted of subcutaneous injection with 20 µg teriparatide
once daily for a total of 24 months. All patients were instructed on teriparatide
administration, given
dietary advice on improving bone health and ensuring an optimal calcium intake,
and were supplemented with vitamin D if necessary. The patientʼs adherence to treatment
was confirmed and
documented at the 12- and 24-month visits. Teriparatide treatment was initiated
immediately after the first visit to the German PLO reference centre. Informed consent
was obtained from all
patients; data analysis was permitted by the ethics committee of the University
of Marburg and was conducted in accordance with German law and the Declaration of
Helsinki.
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS software, version 24.0. Statistical
significance was achieved at a power of 0.8 and an α of 0.05. Spearmanʼs correlation
coefficient was
used to obtain comparative results. Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U test were used
to evaluate group differences, and baseline characteristics were analysed for normal
distribution using
χ2 test and Fisherʼs exact test.
Results
Baseline characteristics
Our study included 47 patients with PLO and vertebral fractures. All women received
20 µg teriparatide daily over a period of 24 months shortly after being diagnosed
with PLO.
Demographic characteristics showed that the mean age of our population was 34.2 years
with a mean weight of 62.6 kg, height of 166.3 cm and BMI of 22.6 ([Table
1 ]). [Table 2 ] includes additional baseline characteristics such as the use of oral contraceptives,
previous history of assisted reproductive
medicine, immobilisation during pregnancy, etc. The mode of delivery was predominantly
spontaneous vaginal delivery (66% of the study population). In 83% of cases, PLO occurred
during the
first pregnancy.
Table 1 Baseline characteristics.
N
Mean %
SD
Age (years)
47
34.2
4.8
Height (cm)
47
166.3
5.6
Weight (kg)
47
62.6
10.1
Body mass index (kg/m2 )
47
22.6
3.4
Age at menarche (years)
47
13.1
1.3
Table 2 Additional baseline characteristics.
N
%
Mode of delivery for PLO pregnancy
Normal delivery
31
66.0
Vaginal operative delivery
1
2.1
Primary caesarean section
10
21.3
Secondary caesarean section
5
10.6
Pregnancy when PLO was diagnosed
1st
39
83.0
2nd
6
12.8
3rd
1
2.1
1st and 2nd
1
2.1
Use of oral contraceptives prior to PLO
No
5
10.6
Yes
42
89.4
Use of assisted reproductive medicine prior to PLO
No
46
97.9
Yes
1
2.1
Immobilisation during pregnancy
No
37
78.7
Yes
10
21.3
Heparin during pregnancy
No
40
85.1
Yes
7
14.9
Cycle irregularities prior to PLO (%)
No
31
66.0
Yes
16
34.0
Secondary amenorrhoea (> 6 months) prior to PLO (%)
No
39
83.0
Yes
8
17.0
Use of glucocorticoids prior to PLO
No
42
89.4
Yes
5
10.6
Smoking prior to PLO (%)
No
42
89.4
Yes
5
10.6
History of lactose intolerance (%)
No
40
85.1
Yes
7
14.9
Family history of osteoporosis
no
33
70.2
Yes
14
29.8
Follow-up data
Next, we investigated the number and distribution of fractures per patient with PLO.
The mean number of vertebral fractures was 4 and the distribution of fractures is
displayed in [Fig. 1 a ]. We also investigated the location of fractures. Fractures were evenly distributed
between the lumbar and thoracic spine, with 72.3% of all fractures
observed at the lumbar and 68.1% in the thoracic spine (predominantly LS1, followed
by LS2 and TS12; [Fig. 1 b ]). All patients presented with fractures after
a severe episode of back pain without having suffered a traumatic accident. Most
women presented with four vertebral fractures, followed by five; very few patients
had ten or more fragility
fractures ([Fig. 1 b ]); no distal radius or hip fractures were observed.
Fig. 1 a Number of fractures at baseline in women with PLO (N = 47). Most patients suffered
from 4 fractures and the number of fractures ranged between 3 and 7.
b Location of spine fractures in women with PLO at baseline. The fractures were distributed
between the lumbar and thoracic spine, with 72.3% of all fractures observed at the
lumbar and 68.1% in the thoracic spine.
Time-dependent changes in BMD, T-scores and z-scores in women with PLO, and teriparatide
treatment are shown in [Table 3 ]. Median changes in lumbar spine,
femoral neck, and total hip BMD using T-scores and z-scores were examined. ([Fig. 2 a – c ]). We evaluated time-dependent changes in BMD at the lumbar spine,
femoral neck and total hip at baseline, after 12 and 24 months of teriparatide
treatment and after a further 12 months of follow-up (36 months after the start of
treatment). We found a
significant, linear increase in BMD at all visits.
Table 3 Time-dependent changes in BMD, T-scores and z-scores in women with PLO receiving
teriparatide treatment.
Time (months)
0
12
24
36
Femoral neck (g/cm2 )
N
37
21
26
16
Mean
0.73
0.79
0.83
0.83
SD
0.09
0.11
0.10
0.12
Femoral neck T-score
N
36
21
27
16
Mean
−2.01
−1.59
−1.17
−1.26
SD
0.73
0.92
0.75
0.93
Femoral neck z-score
N
34
20
24
16
Mean
−1.84
−1.42
−0.97
−1.05
SD
0.80
1.02
0.80
0.97
Total hip (g/cm2 )
N
36
20
25
14
Mean
0.76
0.81
0.85
0.82
SD
0.10
0.08
0.10
0.07
Total hip T-score
N
38
19
26
14
Mean
−1.98
−1.58
−1.22
−1.46
SD
0.82
0.66
0.85
0.57
Total hip z-score
N
33
19
25
14
Mean
−1.80
−1.45
−1.08
−1.30
SD
0.87
0.78
0.80
0.65
Lumbar spine (g/cm2 )
N
40
23
27
15
Mean
0.800
0.941
1.022
0.954
SD
0.128
0.108
0.112
0.091
Lumbar spine T-score
N
40
23
29
17
Mean
−3.02
−1.83
−1.40
−1.76
SD
0.95
0.90
1.08
0.73
Lumbar spine z-score
N
38
22
26
17
Mean
−2.96
−1.67
−1.31
−1.60
SD
1.03
1.00
1.14
0.84
Fig. 2 a Distribution of lumbar spine T-scores in women with PLO at baseline. b Distribution of femoral neck T-scores in women with PLO at baseline.
c Distribution of total hip T-scores in women with PLO at baseline.
The BMD increase from baseline in the lumbar spine at 12, 24 and 36 months was + 21.1%,
+ 31.4% and + 30.3%, respectively (p < 0.001). At the femoral neck, we found a significant
increase of + 9.3%, + 12.2% and + 16.3%, respectively (p < 0.001), and at the
total hip, we found a significant increase of + 7.7%, + 11.7% and + 13.3% for the
same period (p < 0.05,
[Fig. 3 a – c ]). BMD gradually increased from baseline to 36 months in all groups (+ 16.3%, + 13.3%
and + 31.5%), with BMD values recorded at 24 months of
treatment.
Fig. 3 a Increase of lumbar spine BMD in relation to duration of teriparatide treatment. 24
months of treatment with teriparatide significantly increased BMD,
predominantly at the spine. As all patients were premenopausal, there was no
significant decrease of BMD in the 12 months after cessation of treatment. b Increase of femoral neck
BMD in relation to duration of teriparatide treatment. c Increase of total hip BMD in relation to duration of teriparatide treatment.
Four out of the 47 patients (7.8%) suffered a subsequent fracture in the area of the
lumbar spine whilst receiving teriparatide treatment. Two of these patients suffered
a repeat fracture
within three to five months of diagnosis and two after six months. All subsequent
fractures were identified by X-ray.
Discussion
We demonstrated a linear increase of lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip BMD
after 24 months of treatment with teriparatide. After 24 months of teriparatide treatment,
the increase
seems to be most pronounced in lumbar spine BMD, with only rare cases of further
subsequent fractures occurring in women with PLO and existing vertebral fractures.
Long-term follow-up data
[21 ] including subsequent fracture risk from our German reference centre (n = 107 over
6 years) showed that almost one quarter of patients with PLO sustained
a subsequent fracture. This fracture risk correlated with the number of fractures
at diagnosis. These findings were recently confirmed in a review by Qian et al. [22 ] and were congruent with other 338 cases from 65 included papers.
Pregnancy- and lactation-associated osteoporosis is an infrequent but severe condition
that is often misdiagnosed. Its aetiology is only partly understood but risk factors
such as poor
nutrition, insufficient calcium and vitamin D levels, high BMI, physical inactivity,
smoking, first degree relative with a history of PLO, and corticosteroid intake have
been identified [23 ]. Hadji et al. [24 ] identified pregnancy-associated diseases which require immobilisation as the highest
impact risk for PLO in
a large study with 102 PLO patients and 102 controls. Recently, Butscheidt et
al. [25 ], [26 ] reported on three monogenic
mutations in LRP5, COL1A1 and COL1A2 which may play a role in the aetiopathogenesis of PLO. As such, pregnancy was found
to be a skeletal risk factor promoting the initial onset
of previously unrecognised monogenic bone disorders.
Today, there is no generally accepted treatment guideline for patients with PLO, and
treatment protocols are controversially discussed. There is an undoubted consensus
that treatment should
aim to prevent further fractures by increasing BMD, especially at the most vulnerable
fracture site.
The pharmacological approach includes various antiresorptive agents such as bisphosphonates
and denosumab as well as bone anabolic treatments such as teriparatide [27 ]. In the past, the use of bisphosphonates as a pharmacological treatment option for
PLO has been the subject of a few studies. Unfortunately, as bisphosphonates persist
for a long
time in bone, are able to cross the placental barrier, and may accumulate in the
foetal skeleton, their use is controversially discussed [23 ]. In contrast to
bisphosphonates, teriparatide has a low half-life of only a few hours; it does
not accumulate inside the bone matrix and thus poses no threat to subsequent pregnancies
if administration is
discontinued early enough [12 ], [28 ]. The data of Cohen et al. [29 ] showing low bone remodelling
rates at the tissue level in women with PLO provides the pathophysiological rationale
for the use of teriparatide in the setting of PLO. In a recent report, Hellmeyer et
al. emphasised the
positive effects of teriparatide over 18 months [30 ]. Soon afterwards, Lampropoulou-Adamidou et al. were also able to demonstrate the
positive effects of
teriparatide treatment without any serious adverse foetal effects [28 ], [31 ]. Choe et al. supported this hypothesis and examined
the effect of teriparatide over 18 months of continuous administration [32 ]. Finally, Winarno et al. examined the use of teriparatide after unsuccessful therapy
with bisphosphonates in a complex case of pregnancy-related osteoporosis [33 ].
Altogether only six case reports of teriparatide treatment have been published, all
showing a substantial increase in BMD [34 ]. Previously, OʼSullivan et al.
reported that the increase in BMD is greater at the lumbar spine than at the femoral
neck and total hip which is in agreement with our own findings [23 ].
Similarly, Hong et al. [35 ] concluded that lumbar spine BMD increased irrespective of baseline values after
treatment with teriparatide. Importantly, the
increase in BMD was sustained for a period of 12 months after discontinuation
of teriparatide without any further medical treatment in patients using oral contraceptives
or with a regular
menstrual cycle. It is important to emphasise that after stopping lactation, patients
with PLO regain normal endogenous oestrogen levels, thereby normalising bone turnover
and perhaps also
BMD. This approach may have an important clinical impact on the course of PLO
and should be included in the follow-up strategy [36 ].
Our study has several limitations that should be addressed. The retrospective nature
of our single treatment arm study could indicate confounders, although we included
all patients who
received teriparatide in the given timeframe for whom BMD measurements at baseline
and after 12, 24 months and 36 months were available. The demographic heterogeneity
within the treatment
group is a potential source of selection bias, but this is a problem for all studies
of rare diseases. A placebo-controlled randomised study would certainly best address
the research question,
but because of the rarity of PLO, it is highly unlikely that such a RCT will ever
be performed. It is also unlikely that a patient with PLO and 4 or more vertebral
fractures would agree to
receive placebo over the course of 24 months. We were unable to distinguish between
the increase in BMD due to the cessation of lactation and the resumption of regular
menstrual cycles and the
increase due to teriparatide treatment, as all studied patients stopped lactation
and started teriparatide treatment.
We did not collect serum levels to measure levels of reproductive hormones and vitamin
D, PTH or markers of bone turnover, which would have been interesting to compare with
the increase in
BMD. Finally, we also did not examine sequential treatment with teriparatide and
bisphosphonates or denosumab, which would also deliver interesting results. Due to
the infrequency of PLO, we
wanted to focus on a single treatment regimen and avoid decreasing the number
of patients per group.
To our knowledge, this is the largest study to include a substantial number of cases
for the purpose of investigating and demonstrating the positive effects of teriparatide
on subsequent
fracture risk and bone mineral density in women with pregnancy- and lactation-associated
osteoporosis (PLO) with vertebral fractures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, with regard to early diagnosis, it is crucial that physicians are cautious
when pregnant or lactating women report treatment-resistant back pain. Early diagnosis
is of the
upmost importance. Even in pregnancy, MRI is an optional possible diagnostic tool
to identify fractures which may influence the delivery mode as well as to propose
primary weaning. If
treatment is indicated in patients with PLO and several vertebral fractures, our
results indicate that teriparatide treatment is effective at substantially increasing
BMD and perhaps reducing
the subsequent risk of fracture.