Association between Baseline Values of Bone Turnover Markers and Bone Mineral Density and Their Response to Raloxifene Treatment in Japanese Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis

Abstract

Abstract. It has been well established that raloxifene improves bone turnover, increases bone mineral density (BMD), and reduces the risk of fractures. However, it remains obscure which patients are more likely to respond to treatment with raloxifene in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between baseline values of BMD and bone turnover markers (BTMs) and changes of those values after 1-year treatment with raloxifene. Sixty-eight Japanese postmenopausal women with untreated osteoporosis were selected for this study, among whom 58 patients (mean age 70.40 ± 9.2 years) completed this study. Lower baseline values of BMD at the lumbar spine, the femoral neck, and the distal radius were significantly correlated with greater increases of BMD at those corresponding sites after 1-year treatment with raloxifene. On the other hand, higher baseline values of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) and serum N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) were significantly correlated with greater reductions of BAP and NTx, respectively, after 1-year treatment with raloxifene. Although longer and larger studies with fracture endpoints are needed, our findings suggest that baseline values of BMD and BTMs can be used to predict subsequent skeletal response to raloxifene therapy in Japanese postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

A Comparative Study of Intravenous Injection Form and Oral Jelly Form of Alendronate Sodium Hydrate for Bone Mineral Disorder after Gastrectomy

“…When analyzing the data of bone metabolism, it is necessary to pay attention to the time at which the sample was taken from each individual and the turnover of bone metabolism, as differences in these factors may induce unexpected results. A previous study indicated that the rate of suppression of bone absorption markers by the administration of alendronate sodium hydrate was higher in patients with pretherapeutically accelerated turnover of bone metabolism [31] . In this study, we did not analyze the data according to the turnover of bone metabolism in each patient as the number of patients was small.…”