Prozac May Stunt Growing Bones
 (HealthDayNews, 11/11/04)

Scientists have raised concern about prescribing Prozac (fluoxetine), an antidepressant, to children, because studies indicate that the drug may stunt their bones. Prozac is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) that eases depression by increasing the presence of serotonin; but the serotonin transporter molecule 5-HTT that it shuts down is also normally present in cells that build and maintain bone. Stuart Warden of Indiana University School of Medicine, and team, report that mice genetically engineered to lack functioning 5-HTT in bone cells had bones that were narrower, thinner and weaker. Furthermore, when the researchers injected normal, growing mice daily with Prozac for four weeks, the bone the mice gained was narrower and thinner than usual. Warden also cites studies that link long-term SSRI use in adults with a greater risk of hip fracture and reduced bone density in the neck and spine. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly & Co., Prozac's manufacturer, contends that itsr drug has an established safety record in humans.

(Endocrinology, November 2004)