Effects of alendronate on osteopenic postmenopausal Chinese women

To evaluate the effects of alendronate on postmenopausal Chinese women with osteopenia, we treated 46 subjects daily with either 10 mg alendronate (N = 24) or placebo plus 500 mg calcium supplement (N = 22), and measured thei r bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine and hip, and urinary bone resorption markers before, during, and after the 1 year treatment period. T he bone markers included N-telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) and deoxypy ridinoline (Dpd); both were corrected by the concentration of creatinine in the same sample (NTx/Cr and Dpd/Cr), Both NTx/Cr and Dpd/Cr decreased sign ificantly by 44% and 28%, respectively (p < 0.05 for both), in 1 month in t he active treatment group but did not change in the placebo group. BMD at t he spine, femoral neck, trochanter, and Ward's triangle increased significa ntly by 6 months and showed a further increase through month 12 at the spin e in the alendronate-treated group, Relative to the placebo group, BMD chan ges at various sites in the alendronate-treated group were higher at 12 mon ths by 6%-11%, Thus, our data suggest that 10 mg alendronate daily resulted in significant increases in spine and hip BMD, and decreases of urinary re sorption markers in the osteopenic postmenopausal Chinese women studied. Th e amplitude of responses was higher than in previous reports in the USA and Europe. (C) 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.