Alendronate
FosamaxPubChem CID 2088 · 3D model
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Gets swallowed up by the very bone-dissolving cells it's meant to stop, jamming machinery they need to stay active — unlike denosumab, also on this site, which blocks the outside signal that tells those cells to form in the first place.
How it works
Alendronate works its way into bone at exactly the spots being broken down, then gets swallowed up by the cells doing the breaking down — osteoclasts. Once inside, it jams a piece of machinery those cells need to stay active, so they stop resorbing bone effectively, even though they're still there. That gives bone-building cells a chance to get ahead, gradually increasing bone density. Denosumab, also on this site, works differently: instead of poisoning osteoclasts from the inside, it blocks the outside signal that tells them to form in the first place.
What it’s used for
Alendronate is used to treat and help prevent osteoporosis in women after menopause, to build bone mass in men with osteoporosis, to counter bone loss caused by long-term steroid use, and to treat Paget's disease, a condition that causes bone to be broken down and rebuilt abnormally fast.
- Mechanism
- Bisphosphonate (osteoclast inhibitor)
- Drug class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Bone / Metabolic