J Korean Acad Fam Med.  2000 Aug;21(8):1035-1041.

3\Month follow up results after alendronate therapy in postmenopausal osteoporosis

• Oh HJ
• Moon WN
• Yoon HK
• Han IK

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Increased bone turnover results in bone loss after menopause. After menopause, the major cause of bone loss is estrogen deficiency. Rate of bone loss seems to increase after menopause and then formation coupled with resorption is also increased. Antiresorptive drugs are known to be helpful in preventing bone loss. Alendronate is one of antiresorptive drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis which results in a decrease in bone turnover. Some papers report about nonresponders to antiresorptive drugs, and screening people early is very important to optimal management. There are no available data of Korean people. Therefore, this study evaluated the effects of alendronate in Korean postmenopausal osteoporosis patients after 3 months of treatment.
METHODS
We studied 96 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (bone mineral density{BMD} T score<2.5) who visited Climacteric Clinic in Samsung Cheil Hospital from Jan. 1999 to Jul. 1999. Subjects were stratified in to 3 groups: Group 1 treated with alendronate (Fosamax ; MSD, Rahway, NJ, USA) 10mg/day and estrogen, Group 2 treated with calcitonin nasal spray 100 IU every other day and estrogen, and Group 3 treated with estrogen alone for 3 months. We measured serum marker of bone formation (osteocalcin [BGP]), and marker of bone resorption (deoxypyridinoline [DPYD]) from urine at baseline and 3 months after treatment.
RESULTS
The mean difference in change of markers among the three groups at the end of study that were significant were BGP 25.7 4.8% and DPYD 23.3 2.3%. DPYD known as bone resorption marker showed a significant response in alendronate and estrogen therapy group than estrogen alone group (P<0.05). Also, BGP showed response to estrogen alone, and calcitonin and estrogen group, but its responsiveness was lesser than alendronate therapy.
CONCLUSION
Our data showed that using alendronate with estrogen in patients of osteoporosis further prevents bone resorption. Therefore, we conclude that alendronate therapy with estrogen is helpful in managing osteoporosis patients.

Keyword

postmenopause; osteoporosis; BGP; DPYD; alendronate

MeSH Terms

Alendronate*
Biomarkers
Bone Density Conservation Agents
Bone Resorption
Calcitonin
Climacteric
Estrogens
Female
Follow-Up Studies*
Humans
Mass Screening
Menopause
Osteogenesis
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal*
Postmenopause
Alendronate
Bone Density Conservation Agents
Calcitonin
Estrogens