SHORT-TERM CLODRONATE TREATMENT DOES NOT INCREASE TRABECULAR BONE IN POSTTRAUMATIC OSTEOPENIA - ANALYSIS OF DRUG INCORPORATION AND BONE HISTOMORPHOMETRY

The paper describes the results of two experiments on clodronate treat ment on bone metabolism in growing rabbits: 1. the serum and bone conc entrations of the drug, and 2. the effects of 18 week clodronate treat ment on quantitative histomorphometry of trabecular bone. The results indicated a rapid and high affinity of clodronate to bone after subcut aneous administration. Plate fixation of the tibia without a fracture or any operation on the femur induced a 25 % decrease in bone volume p er total volume in the femoral condyles. The osteopenic response resul ted probably from operative trauma. Clodronate treatment for three mon ths could not inhibit this decrease. The increase in calcium content i n bone by the drug treatment (observed in diaphyseal bones in earlier studies) could not be verified on histology of trabecular bone.