Strontium reduces risk of vertebral fractures
Treatment with strontium ranelate leads to early and sustained reductions in the risk of vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, according to recent results from phase III clinical trials.
Researchers randomly assigned 1,649 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis
who had at least one vertebral fracture to receive 2g oral strontium
ranelate per day or placebo for three years. All women were given calcium
and vitamin D supplements before and during the study.
After the first year of treatment, patients in the strontium group had
a 49 per cent lower risk of a new vertebral fracture than patients in
the placebo group (incidence 6.4 per cent versus 12.2 per cent, relative
risk 0.51, P<0.001) and a 52 per cent lower risk of symptomatic fracture
(incidence 3.1 per cent versus 6.4 per cent, relative risk 0.48, P<0.003).
Over the three-year study period the strontium group had a 41 per cent
lower risk of a new vertebral fracture than the placebo group (20.9 per
cent versus 32.8 per cent, relative risk 0.59, P<0.001). Strontium
also increased bone mineral density after three years. The rates of adverse
effects were similar in the two groups.
The authors note that the mechanisms by which strontium reduces bone
resorption and increases bone formation are not yet understood, but they
probably differ from the mechanisms of current treatments (New England Journal of Medicine 2004;350:459). |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal