ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacoepidemiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1514387
This article is part of the Research TopicPharmacoepidemiology in Chronic DiseasesView all 15 articles
The Safety and Efficacy of Long-term Use of Calcitonin AnalogsCalcitonin-based Drugs in the Treatment of Osteoporosis in the Elderly: A Pharmacovigilance and RCT Meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, Changsha, China
- 2The First People's Hospital of Changde City, Changde, Hunan Province, China
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Background Osteoporosis is a common metabolic bone disease in the elderly, and its incidence continues to rise with the global aging population. Calcitonin analogs (including synthetic salmon, human, and porcine calcitonin preparations) are a classic treatment option for osteoporosis; however, the safety and efficacy of their long-term use remain controversial despite widespread application. Objective This study aims to systematically assess the safety and efficacy of long-term use of calcitonin analogs in the treatment of osteoporosis in the elderly through pharmacovigilance analysis and meta-analysis. Methods The study evaluated the long-term effectiveness and adverse effects of calcitonin analogs using pharmacovigilance data from the FAERS database and a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The pharmacovigilance analysis included adverse event data from osteoporosis patients aged 65 and older from 2004 to 2023, and signal detection was performed using the reporting odds ratio (ROR), proportional reporting ratio (PRR), and Bayesian confidence propagation neural network (BCPNN) methods. The meta-analysis included RCT studies related to calcitonin published after 2010, and a random-effects model was used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% confidence interval. Results Pharmacovigilance analysis revealed that nasal discomfort (ROR = 283.4, , PRR = 264.5, IC = 7.3, IC025= 6.8) and abnormal product odor (ROR = 206.2, PRR = 201.9, IC = 7.1, IC025=6.1) were the most significant adverse reactions associated with calcitonin. Meta-analysis results showed no significant effect of calcitonin analogs in preventing new non-vertebral fractures and vertebral fractures (HR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.76–1.24; HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.77–1.14). Changes in lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density showed a slight upward trend but were not statistically significant. The analysis of NTx-1 levels (N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen, a marker of bone resorption) revealed substantial heterogeneity, with significant variation in results across studies. Conclusion Long-term use of calcitonin analogs for the treatment of osteoporosis in the elderly does not confer additional benefits and instead increases the risk of adverse reactions.
Keywords: Osteoporosis, Calcitonin, FAERS database, Pharmacovigilance, Meta-analysis, fractures, bone mineral density
Received: 20 Oct 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tan and Deng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sui Deng, The First People's Hospital of Changde City, Changde, Hunan Province, China
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