Exploring drug delivery systems for treating osteoporosis

Introduction: Osteoporosis (OP) is a major disease in elderly people; its complications and prevalence are rapidly increasing worldwide. It is associated with high fragility fracture mainly of hip, wrist and spine. With the rising lifespan worldwide, the number of hip fractures throughout globe will rise from 1.66 million in 1990 to 6.26 million by 2050. So there is a major problem in our society related to the bone diseases which needs to be addressed. Areas covered: This review gives knowledge about OP, its symptoms and problems associated with the existing therapies. It gives idea about various drug delivery systems for bone targeting. This review also gives a comprehensive compilation of the various in vitro and in vivo studies conducted till date and US FDA approved drugs for the treatment of OP. Expert opinion: Various drug delivery systems reduce the adverse effects of drugs and increase the availability of drugs to the target site mainly bones. Active researches are going on to improve the OP treatment, whose high prevalence and considerable functional and socioeconomic impact will raise formidable challenges in the near future. We should work on different targets rather than conventional therapies which will improve the overall treatment strategies.