Long-Term Effect of Alendronate on Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term effect of anti-resorptive agent, alendronate, on bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal osteoporotic diabetic women. Twelve postmenopausal type 2 diabetic women (mean age; 70.4 +/- 5.4 yrs, duration of diabetes; 13.1 +/- 3.9 yrs) were administered alendronate sodium (5 mg/day) for 5 years. The radial BMD and urinary N-telopeptide cross-linked collagen type (NTx), one of biochemical markers, were measured every year. These parameters were compared with those in age-matched 12 control postmenopausal diabetic women not treated with alendronate. The radial BMD significantly (p<0.05) decreased by 5.30% at 2yr, 8.38% at 3yr, 9.71% at 4yr, and 11.12% at 5yr, in control subjects. While, radial BMD did not significantly change in diabetic women treated with alendronate. The decrease in radial BMD was significantly greater in control subjects than in subjects treated with alendronate at 3, 4, and 5year. Urinary NTx significantly decreased only in women with alendronate treatment. These data suggest that long-term administration of alendronate inhibits the decrease in BMD in postmenopausal type 2 diabetic women with low BMD.