The Study
Effects of intermittent senolytic therapy on bone metabolism in postmenopausal women: a phase 2 randomized controlled trial
This study is like a fair test where some women got a new medicine and others didn’t, and scientists watched what happened to their bones. They found a tiny, short-lived boost in bone-building activity, but no big change in bone loss. The medicine might work better in a few women with a special marker, but that’s just a guess that needs more testing.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists tested a drug combo that removes old, tired cells in older women to see if it helps bones grow stronger.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 567 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1A 2.7% increase in wrist bone density is meaningful—it's similar to gains seen with FDA-approved osteoporosis drugs, but only in women with the highest senescent cell burden.
- 2In most women, bones didn't get stronger.
- 3But in women with the most old cells, bone growth marker P1NP went up 34%, bone breakdown marker CTx went down 11%, and bone density in the wrist increased by 2.7%.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Nature medicine
Year
2024
Authors
J. Farr, Elizabeth J. Atkinson, Sara J. Achenbach, Tammie L. Volkman, Amanda J. Tweed, Stephanie J. Vos, Ming M. Ruan, J. Sfeir, M. Drake, D. Saul, Madison L. Doolittle, I. Bancos, Kai Yu, T. Tchkonia, Nathan K. LeBrasseur, James L. Kirkland, D. Monroe, Sundeep Khosla
Related Content
Claims (6)
In postmenopausal women, taking dasatinib and quercetin together in intermittent doses for 20 weeks causes a 16% rise in the bone formation marker P1NP at 2 and 4 weeks, but this rise disappears by 20 weeks.
In postmenopausal women, a combination of dasatinib and quercetin does not lower levels of the bone resorption marker CTx after 20 weeks of treatment.
In postmenopausal women, measuring p16_variant_5 mRNA in peripheral T cells is a more accurate indicator of cellular aging than measuring both p16_variant_1 and p16_variant_5 together, because it aligns more closely with chronological age and better forecasts how the body responds to senolytic treatments.
In postmenopausal women with high levels of a cellular senescence marker, a 20-week course of dasatinib and quercetin increases bone formation by 34%, decreases bone breakdown by 11%, and increases bone density in the radius by 2.7%.
In postmenopausal women taking intermittent doses of dasatinib and quercetin for 20 weeks, no serious side effects were reported, but many experienced mild side effects such as headaches and stomach issues.
No supplement designed to remove senescent cells has been shown in well-designed human trials to improve health outcomes.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.