Researchers Compare Drugs Used to Prevent Osteoporosis

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Researchers Compare Drugs Used to Prevent Osteoporosis

CHICAGO, IL -- April 27, 2004 -- Raloxifene, a drug used to prevent

osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, and conjugated equine estrogen (CEE, a

hormone

therapy) help increase bone density, although CEE seems to be more

effective,

according to an article in the April 26 issue of The Archives of Internal

Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

According to information in the article, raloxifene helps prevent bone loss

and increases bone mineral density, and CEE has also been used to help

prevent

osteoporosis. However, there is little information comparing the two drugs.

Ian R. Reid, M.D., of The University of Auckland, New Zealand, and

colleagues

compared the effects of CEE and different dosages of raloxifene on bone

mineral density in 619 postmenopausal women (average age, 53 years) with

prior

hysterectomy at 38 medical centers in Europe, North America, Australasia and

South

Africa.

In this randomized, placebo-controlled trial, women were randomly assigned

to

take either 60 milligrams per day of raloxifene, 150 milligrams per day of

raloxifene, 0.625 milligrams per day of CEE, or placebo. Bone mineral

density

was measured in the spine and in the femur (a large bone in the leg). The

study

lasted three years.

The researchers found that bone density declined by two percent in the

placebo group, was stable in the two raloxifene groups, and increased by 4.6

percent

in the CEE group. At three years, total cholesterol levels were not

different

compared to the beginning of the study for the placebo group and the CEE

group, however, triglyceride concentrations (certain types of fats in the

blood)

increased by 24.6 percent in the CEE group at three years, a significantly

greater change than in the raloxifene groups, which were 4.9 percent and 8.0

percent above levels at the beginning of the study. The researchers also

found that

raloxifene did not affect high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the

" good " cholesterol), but CEE increased it by 13.4 percent compared with

placebo.

" Raloxifene and CEE have beneficial effects on bone density and bone

turnover, although effects of CEE are more marked, " write the researchers.

" This is one of few studies to directly compare the effects of treatments

widely used in the management of osteoporosis. Its findings are broadly

consistent with previous data relating to raloxifene, other selective

estrogen receptor

modulators, and estrogen. Modest changes in bone turnover markers have been

reported with raloxifene, whereas those associated with the use of estrogen

have tended to be larger, as found in the present study. "

SOURCE: JAMA and Archives Journals Website

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