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Alendronate treatment results in similar levels of trabecular bone remodeling in the femoral neck and vertebra

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Abstract

Summary

We aimed to determine whether trabecular bone in sites that have different surface-based remodeling rates, the femoral neck and vertebra, are differently affected by alendronate treatment. Alendronate treatment resulted in similar levels of turnover in both sites, suggesting that a lower limit of bone turnover suppression with alendronate may exist.

Introduction

Bone turnover suppression in sites that already have a low surface-based remodeling rate may lead to oversuppression that could have negative effects on the biomechanical properties of bone. The goal was to determine how alendronate suppresses bone turnover at sites with different surface-based remodeling rates.

Methods

Dynamic histomorphometric parameters were assessed in trabecular bone of the femoral neck and lumbar vertebrae obtained from skeletally mature beagles treated with saline (1 ml/kg/day) or alendronate (ALN 0.2 or 1.0 mg/kg/day). The ALN0.2 and ALN1.0 doses approximate, on a milligram per kilogram basis, the clinical doses used for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis and Paget’s disease, respectively.

Results

Alendronate treatment resulted in similar absolute levels of bone turnover in the femoral neck and vertebrae, although the femoral neck had 33% lower pre-treatment surface-based remodeling rate than the vertebra (p < 0.05). Additionally, the high dose of alendronate (ALN 1.0) suppressed bone turnover to similar absolute levels as the low dose of alendronate (ALN 0.2) in both sites.

Conclusions

Alendronate treatment may result in a lower limit of trabecular bone turnover suppression, suggesting that sites of low pre-treatment remodeling rate are not more susceptible to oversuppression than those of high pre-treatment remodeling rate.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Keith Condon and Diana Jacob for histological preparation. This work was supported by NIH Grants AR047838 and AR007581 and utilized an animal facility constructed with support from Research Facilities Improvement Program Grant Number C06 RR10601-01 from the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health. Merck and Co. kindly provided alendronate.

Conflicts of interest

Dr. Diab was supported by a grant from The Alliance for Better Bone Health.

Dr. Allen has research contracts with Eli Lilly and Company, The Alliance for Better Bone Health and Amgen. He also serves as a consultant for Merck.

Dr. Burr has research contracts from Eli Lilly and Company, Amgen, and The Alliance for Better Bone Health. Furthermore, he serves on the Advisory Board for Eli Lilly and Company, and he has received lecture fees from Eli Lilly, The Alliance for Better Bone Health, Amgen, and Roche. Dr. Burr is a consultant for The Alliance for Better Bone Health. Also, he has a Material Transfer Agreement with Merck.

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Author notes

  1. T. Diab

    Present address: Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, 315 Ferst Drive Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0405, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    T. Diab, M. R. Allen & D. B. Burr

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    D. B. Burr

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indiana University—Purdue University at Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    D. B. Burr

  4. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, MS 5035 Indiana University School of Medicine, 635 Barnhill Dr., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    D. B. Burr

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  1. T. Diab
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Correspondence to D. B. Burr.

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Diab, T., Allen, M.R. & Burr, D.B. Alendronate treatment results in similar levels of trabecular bone remodeling in the femoral neck and vertebra. Osteoporos Int 20, 647–652 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-008-0717-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-008-0717-9

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