Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2015 Nov;36(11):1305-11.
doi: 10.15537/smj.2015.11.12731.

Favorable therapeutic response of osteoporosis patients to treatment with intravenous zoledronate compared with oral alendronate

Mohammed M Al-Bogami  1 , Mohammed A Alkhorayef, Jonas Bystrom, Olufunso A Akanle, Nasra K Al-Adhoubi, Ali S Jawad, Rizgar A Mageed
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Favorable therapeutic response of osteoporosis patients to treatment with intravenous zoledronate compared with oral alendronate

Mohammed M Al-Bogami et al. Saudi Med J. 2015 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of orally-administered alendronate compared with intravenously-administered zoledronate.

Methods: This prospective study was carried out at Barts Health HNS Trust between April 2010 and March 2012. This study compares changes in bone mineral density (BMD) in 234 patients treated with 2 bisphosphonates: alendronate taken orally, and zoledronate administered intravenously. One hundred and eighteen patients received alendronate at 70 mg/week, while 116 patients received zoledronate once annually. Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry was used to measure BMD of the left hip and anterior-posterior spine (lumbar L1-L4) skeletal sites at baseline, and at one-, and 2-years post-treatment.

Results: This study provides evidence that lumbar spine BMD increased by 3.6% in patients receiving alendronate, and 5.7% in patients receiving zoledronate after 2 years compared with baseline values (p=0.0001 for both). Total hip BMD decreased in patients treated with alendronate by 0.4% but increased in patients receiving zoledronate by 0.8% (p=0.0001).

Conclusion: This study provides evidence that zoledronate is more effective than alendronate in treating patients with osteoporosis and with no gastrointestinal (GI) serious side effects. Furthermore, zoledronate appears to have the added advantage of a better safety profile in patients suffering from GI intolerance of oral bisphosphonates.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Change in bone mineral density (BMD) from baseline to one and 2 years after treatment at: A) the hip; and B) the lumbar spine sites in patients with osteoporosis receiving oral alendronate, or zoledro≠nate. The BMD of the hip and lumbar spine were determined by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan at baseline (time 0), and at one, and 2 years post treatment initiation. Percent changes in BMD values are presented as the mean for each group with their corresponding standard deviations. p=0.0001 in change in BMD from baseline to 2 years between patients treated with zoledronate compared with patients treated with alendronate in both sites after 2 years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sandhu SK, Hampson G. The pathogenesis, diagnosis, investigation and management of osteoporosis. J Clin Pathol. 2011;64:1042–1050. - PubMed
    1. Harvey N, Dennison E, Cooper C. Osteoporosis: a lifecourse approach. J Bone Miner Res. 2014;29:1917–1925. - PubMed
    1. Cauley JA, Chalhoub D, Kassem AM, Fuleihan Gel-H. Geographic and ethnic disparities in osteoporotic fractures. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2014;10:338–351. - PubMed
    1. Giger EV, Castagner B, Leroux JC. Biomedical applications of bisphosphonates. J Control Release. 2013;167:175–188. - PubMed
    1. Russell RG. Bisphosphonates: the first 40 years. Bone. 2011;49:2–19. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources