Bone loss in elderly women prevented by ultralow doses of parenteral 17beta-estradiol.
Ключови думи
Резюме
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to assess whether an ultralow dose of parental estradiol, aimed for treatment of vaginal atrophy, affects bone metabolism and bone density.
METHODS
Thirty healthy women > or = 60 years old were randomly assigned to a 6-month treatment with either an ultralow dose of parenteral estradiol (7.5 microg/24 hours) delivered by vaginal rings or no treatment in the proportion 2:1.
RESULTS
Forearm bone density increased in estradiol users by 2.1% (95% confidence interval 0.4 to 3.8, p = 0.008), contrasting to a decrease in nonusers of -2.7% (95% confidence interval -5.9 to 0.4, p = 0.077). In analysis of variance the changes in the two study groups differed significantly (p = 0.0004). Consistently, serum alkaline phosphatases, bone-specific alkaline phosphatases, and osteocalcin concentrations decreased in the treatment group (8%, p = 0.019; 14%, p = 0.0006; and 9%, p = 0.02, respectively), suggesting reduced bone turnover. No significant changes were found in nonusers.
CONCLUSIONS
Ultralow doses of estradiol may potentially prevent bone loss in women > or = 60 years old.
