Hormone Treatment May Help Protect Postmenopausal Women with Lupus against Bone Loss

Lupus can impact nearly every organ in the body, including bone tissue, and people with lupus commonly experience bone loss (also known as osteoporosis) as a secondary complication of their disease. In women, bone loss typically worsens after menopause, the stage of life in which the ovaries stop producing reproductive hormones like estrogen. Now, emerging research suggests that estrogen therapy may help prevent or minimize bone loss in women with lupus who have gone through menopause without worsening lupus disease activity.

In this study, researchers analyzed mice with lupus-like symptoms who had their ovaries removed to simulate menopause. They treated them with different medications at varying doses and disease stages.

They found that the mice treated with a combination of two hormone replacement therapies protected the mice from bone loss when given a medium dose and treated in the early stage of their disease. Importantly, the treatment did not affect lupus disease markers, suggesting that the treatments may be safe for people with lupus, too.

More research on hormone replacement therapy in women with lupus is needed, but these early findings are encouraging. Learn more about osteoporosis management strategies for people with lupus.

Read the Study