Effects of estrogen and alendronate on sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequencies in postmenopausal osteoporosis patients

Objective: To compare two types of osteoporosis treatment for genotoxicity by using sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequencies. Method: Fifty-seven w omen, aged between 40 and 64 years, composed the population in the study. S CE values of patients under estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) or alendrona te therapy were compared to controls who never used any drugs for osteoporo sis, Result: The difference between the SCE values of women taking ERT and control women was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). The dif ference between women taking alendronate and untreated controls was not sta tistically significant. Conclusion: Our results indicate that alendronate d oes not have genotoxic effects based on SCE frequency, while ERT increases SCE frequencies; (C) 2000 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstet rics. All rights reserved.