Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 4 complete abstracts (876 words), 10 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
A polypeptide that consists of the 1-34 amino-acid fragment of human parathyroid hormone, the biologically active N-terminal region. The acetate form is given by intravenous infusion in the differential diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism and pseudohypoparathyroidism. (Reynolds JEF(Ed): Martindale: The Extra Pharmacopoeia (electronic version). Micromedex, Inc, Englewood, CO, 1995)
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: hPTH (1-34); Human Parathyroid Hormone (1-34); Parathar; Teriparatide Acetate; Forteo.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Parathyroid Hormone
Related concepts
- Parathyroid Hormone
- Hypoparathyroidism
- Pseudohypoparathyroidism
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 2,535 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Teriparatide” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 595 of them (23.5%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2010-2019 with 936 records.
Reviews account for 468 records (18.5%) and meta-analyses for 70. Randomized controlled trials number 273 (10.8%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up a comparatively large share of this literature, which means many treatment questions have been tested directly.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 557 |
| 2000-2009 | 447 |
| 2010-2019 | 936 |
| 2020 onward | 595 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 468 | 18.5% |
| Meta-analyses | 70 | 2.8% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 273 | 10.8% |
Method: PubMed query "Teriparatide"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in drugs and chemicals
Studies of a chemical or drug can answer very different questions: what it is and how it behaves in cells and animals, how the body handles it, and whether it changes outcomes in people. Laboratory and animal findings often do not carry over to patients, and observational studies of exposures are confounded by who uses a substance and why. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to use, avoid, start or stop any substance or medicine; talk to a qualified clinician or pharmacist about your own situation. Check the dose, the species, the comparison group and whether a patient-relevant outcome was measured.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Understanding of Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Management of Atypical Femur Fractures | 2018 | Review article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 93 | cc by PMID 29951870 · DOI · PMC6061199 |
| Effectiveness of Teriparatide on Fracture Healing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | 2016 | Meta-analysis Design not recorded in structured metadata | 59 | cc by PMID 27997614 · DOI · PMC5173248 |
| Abaloparatide exhibits greater osteoanabolic response and higher cAMP stimulation and β-arrestin recruitment than teriparatide | 2019 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 38 | cc by PMID 31565870 · DOI · PMC6766518 |
| Real-world effectiveness of denosumab compared to teriparatide in patients with severe osteoporosis | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 41924523 · DOI · PMC13035712 |
Current Understanding of Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Management of Atypical Femur Fractures [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Purpose of reviewTo summarize reports published since the 2013 American Society of Bone and Mineral Research Task Force Report on atypical femoral fractures (AFF).
- Closing excerpt
- Greater understanding of biological and genetic predisposition to AFF may allow characterization of individual risk prior to initiating osteoporosis therapy and help allay fear in those at low risk for this complication, which remains rare in comparison to the osteoporotic fractures prevented by antiresorptive therapy.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (205 words)
Purpose of reviewTo summarize reports published since the 2013 American Society of Bone and Mineral Research Task Force Report on atypical femoral fractures (AFF).Recent findingsThe absolute incidence of AFFs remains low. AFFs are primarily associated with prolonged bisphosphonate (BP) exposure, but have also been reported in unexposed patients and those receiving denosumab for osteoporosis and metastatic bone disease. Asians may be more susceptible to AFFs. Lateral femoral bowing and varus hip geometry, which increase loading forces on the lateral femoral cortex, may increase AFF risk. Altered bone material properties associated with BP therapy may predispose to AFFs by permitting initiation and increasing propagation of micro-cracks. Relevant genetic mutations have been reported in patients with AFFs. Single X-ray absorptiometry femur scans permit early detection of incomplete and/or asymptomatic AFFs. Orthopedists recommend intramedullary rods for complete AFFs and for incomplete, radiologically advanced AFFs associated with pain and/or marrow edema on MRI. Teriparatide may advance AFF healing but few data support its efficacy. Greater understanding of biological and genetic predisposition to AFF may allow characterization of individual risk prior to initiating osteoporosis therapy and help allay fear in those at low risk for this complication, which remains rare in comparison to the osteoporotic fractures prevented by antiresorptive therapy.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 29951870 · DOI · PMC6061199
Effectiveness of Teriparatide on Fracture Healing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- PurposeNowadays, the efficacy of teriparatide in treating osteoporosis was widely accepted, but the discussion about using teriparatide to enhance fracture healing hasn't come to an agreement.
- Closing excerpt
- If we want to confirm whether teriparatide improves fracture healing, more high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (165 words)
PurposeNowadays, the efficacy of teriparatide in treating osteoporosis was widely accepted, but the discussion about using teriparatide to enhance fracture healing hasn't come to an agreement. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of teriparatide for fracture healing.MethodsWe searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Embase in August 2016 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which concerned the treatment of teriparatide for fracture healing.ResultsFinally, a total of 380 patients were randomly assigned in the 5 trials included in this meta-analysis. There was a significant effectiveness with regards to function improvement in patients following fracture, however, there was no significant effectiveness with regards to time of radiographic fracture healing, fracture healing rate and reduction in pain.ConclusionsThis analysis showed that administration of teriparatide following fracture lacked the effectiveness for fracture healing. Moreover, teriparatide administration had no apparent adverse effects. These results should be interpreted with caution because of some clear limitations. If we want to confirm whether teriparatide improves fracture healing, more high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 27997614 · DOI · PMC5173248
Abaloparatide exhibits greater osteoanabolic response and higher cAMP stimulation and β-arrestin recruitment than teriparatide [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Teriparatide and abaloparatide are parathyroid hormone receptor 1 (PTHR1) analogs with unexplained differential efficacy for the treatment of osteoporosis.
- Closing excerpt
- Therefore, abaloparatide-improved efficacy can be attributed to enhanced bone formation and cortical structure, reduced RANKL/OPG ratio, and amplified Gs-cAMP and β-arrestin signaling.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (248 words)
Teriparatide and abaloparatide are parathyroid hormone receptor 1 (PTHR1) analogs with unexplained differential efficacy for the treatment of osteoporosis. Therefore, we compared the effects of abaloparatide and teriparatide on bone structure, turnover, and levels of receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG). Wild-type (WT) female mice were injected daily with vehicle or 20-80 µg/kg/day of teriparatide or abaloparatide for 30 days. Femurs and spines were examined by microcomputed tomography scanning and serum levels of bone turnover markers, RANKL, and OPG, were measured by ELISA. Both analogs similarly increased the distal femoral fractional trabecular bone volume, connectivity, and number, and reduced the structure model index (SMI) at 20-80 µg/kg/day doses. However, only abaloparatide exhibited a significant increase (13%) in trabecular thickness at 20 µg/kg/day dose. Femoral cortical evaluation showed that abaloparatide caused a greater dose-dependent increase in cortical thickness than teriparatide. Both teriparatide and abaloparatide increased lumbar 5 vertebral trabecular connectivity but had no or modest effect on other indices. Biochemical analysis demonstrated that abaloparatide promoted greater elevation of procollagen type 1 intact N-terminal propeptide, a bone formation marker, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b levels, a bone resorption marker, and lowered the RANKL/OPG ratio. Furthermore, PTHR1 signaling was compared in cells treated with 0-100 nmol/L analog. Interestingly, abaloparatide had a markedly lower EC50 for cAMP formation (2.3-fold) and β-arrestin recruitment (1.6-fold) than teriparatide. Therefore, abaloparatide-improved efficacy can be attributed to enhanced bone formation and cortical structure, reduced RANKL/OPG ratio, and amplified Gs-cAMP and β-arrestin signaling.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 31565870 · DOI · PMC6766518
Real-world effectiveness of denosumab compared to teriparatide in patients with severe osteoporosis [4]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- ContextThe potent inhibitory action on bone resorption and concomitant stimulatory effect on bone modeling make denosumab (DEN) as a possible alternative to anabolic drugs for treatment of severe osteoporosis.
- Closing excerpt
- ConclusionsThis real-world study shows that DEN might be less effective than TPTD in preventing VFs in patients with severe osteoporosis.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (258 words)
ContextThe potent inhibitory action on bone resorption and concomitant stimulatory effect on bone modeling make denosumab (DEN) as a possible alternative to anabolic drugs for treatment of severe osteoporosis.ObjectiveTo compare the real-world effectiveness of DEN and teriparatide (TPTD) in patients with severe osteoporosis.MethodsThis retrospective study included 357 patients (300 females, 57 males; mean age 70.2 ± 10.7 years) attending a referral center for osteoporosis in the period between July 2021 and June 2025. All the patients had indications for treatment with TPTD according to the national drug reimbursement criteria. However, 198 patients were treated with TPTD for 24 months, whereas 159 patients received DEN for contraindications to TPTD (110 cases), patient preference (39 cases) or side effects after few doses of the drug (10 cases). Patients were evaluated for clinical/morphometric VFs and non-vertebral fractures (NVFs) at baseline and after 24 months of treatment.ResultsDuring the study period, 34 patients (9.5%) developed new VFs (clinical in 13 cases) and 7 patients (2.0%) experienced NVFs. The risk of new VFs was significantly associated with vertebroplasty procedure (odds ratio 2.409; p=0.037). Moreover, new VFs occurred less frequently in patients treated with TPTD as compared to DEN (12/198 vs. 22/159; p=0.013). In the multivariable analysis, the favorable effect of TPTD on risk of VFs was still significant after correction for vertebroplasty (odds ratio 0.39; confidence interval 95% 0.19-0.83; p=0.014). No significant difference in NVFs was found between DEN and TPTD (2/159 vs. 5/198; p=0.468).ConclusionsThis real-world study shows that DEN might be less effective than TPTD in preventing VFs in patients with severe osteoporosis.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 41924523 · DOI · PMC13035712
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Osteoporosis [5]
- Research article Parathyroid hormone and teriparatide for the treatment of osteoporosis: a review of the evidence and suggested guidelines for its use [6]
- Research article Teriparatide for osteoporosis: importance of the full course [7]
- Research article PINP as a biological response marker during teriparatide treatment for osteoporosis [8]
- Research article Parathyroid hormone and its related peptides in bone metabolism [9]
- Research article Teriparatide [human PTH(1-34)]: 2.5 years of experience on the use and safety of the drug for the treatment of osteoporosis [10]
References
- Starr J, Tay YKD, Shane E. Current Understanding of Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Management of Atypical Femur Fractures. . 2018. PMID 29951870 · DOI · PMC6061199
- Shi Z, Zhou H, Pan B, Lu L, Liu J, Kang Y, et al.. Effectiveness of Teriparatide on Fracture Healing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. . 2016. PMID 27997614 · DOI · PMC5173248
- Sahbani K, Cardozo CP, Bauman WA, Tawfeek HA. Abaloparatide exhibits greater osteoanabolic response and higher cAMP stimulation and β-arrestin recruitment than teriparatide. . 2019. PMID 31565870 · DOI · PMC6766518
- Birtolo MF, Piasentier A, Dutu AD, Vena W, Morenghi E, Pigni S, et al.. Real-world effectiveness of denosumab compared to teriparatide in patients with severe osteoporosis. . 2026. PMID 41924523 · DOI · PMC13035712
- Compston JE, McClung MR, Leslie WD. Osteoporosis. Lancet. 2019. PMID 30696576 · DOI
- Hodsman AB, Bauer DC, Dempster DW, Dian L, Hanley DA, Harris ST, et al.. Parathyroid hormone and teriparatide for the treatment of osteoporosis: a review of the evidence and suggested guidelines for its use. Endocr Rev. 2005. PMID 15769903 · DOI
- Lindsay R, Krege JH, Marin F, Marin F, Jin L, Stepan JJ. Teriparatide for osteoporosis: importance of the full course. Osteoporos Int. 2016. PMID 26902094 · DOI · PMC4947115
- Krege JH, Lane NE, Harris JM, Miller PD. PINP as a biological response marker during teriparatide treatment for osteoporosis. Osteoporos Int. 2014. PMID 24599274 · DOI · PMC4134485
- Chen T, Wang Y, Hao Z, Hu Y, Li J. Parathyroid hormone and its related peptides in bone metabolism. Biochem Pharmacol. 2021. PMID 34224692 · DOI
- Tashjian AH, Gagel RF. Teriparatide [human PTH(1-34)]: 2.5 years of experience on the use and safety of the drug for the treatment of osteoporosis. J Bone Miner Res. 2006. PMID 16491282 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-31.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.