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  • Between Bedside and Bench
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Breaking into bone biology: serotonin's secrets

Nature Medicine volume 15, pages 145–146 (2009)Cite this article

Bedside to Bench

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been the cornerstone of treatment for depression for over a decade. However, two recent studies have shown that patients who are prescribed SSRIs have lower bone mineral density (BMD) than those taking older, tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline1,2. Moreover, SSRI users lose bone from the hip at twice the rate of those taking other psychotropic drugs and are at greater risk of sustaining an osteoporotic fracture3. These findings dovetail with studies suggesting that depression itself may be harmful for the skeleton and newer work highlighting the role of the hypothalamus in regulating bone turnover3,4.

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Figure 1: SSRI's may cut to the bone.

Katie Vicari

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  1. Clifford J. Rosen is at the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, 81 Research Drive, Scarborough, Maine 04074, USA. rosenc@mmc.org,

    Clifford J Rosen

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  1. Clifford J Rosen
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Rosen, C. Breaking into bone biology: serotonin's secrets. Nat Med 15, 145–146 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0209-145

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