"Re-evaluating Raloxifene's Role in Improving Bone Quality: Shifting from the Micro to Nanoscale and Beyond Bone Mineral Density" 

Elizabeth Montagnino, MSE PhD Candidate 

Advisors: Professors John Howarter &Thomas Siegmund

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ABSTRACT

Treating skeletal fractures has long been a global issue, due to the complexity of bone as a structural organ, and a hierarchical biological composite material The demand and burden on the health care system and economic funding for patient recovery and applied research has only increased and will continue to do so. Raloxifene hydrochloride a pharmaceutical designed for osteoporosis treatment has estrogenic effects in human bone tissue, which has long been viewed as an alternative for women with low estrogen levels. Although Raloxifene is FDA approved, its success as a drug identifies holes in the fracture prevention model used and understood in aging and diseased bones. With historical methods such as DEXA scans and radiographs, relying on bone mineral density as a standard, there is a narrowed vision of the cause of fracture and how to deal with it. Raloxifene's relation to BMD is limited and therefore does not mold to the classic model, but still has signs of efficacy. With advanced x-ray scattering methods and the use of human bone rather than animal models, the role of raloxifene in fracture prevention models is reevaluated, as the scope of evaluation is widened beyond bone mineral density.