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Departments of Rheumatology and Biochemistry (F.G., M.B., S.K., J.-L.S., P.F.), and Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy (M.B., S.K.), CHU, Amiens 80054, France; Laboratoires Innothera (M.Mat., N.H., M.Maa.), Arcueil 94111, France; and UPR 1524, Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul (M.G.), Paris 75010, France
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Prof. P. Fardellone, Service de Rhumatologie, Hôpital Nord, Amiens 80054 Cedex 1, France. E-mail: fardellone.patrice{at}chu-amiens.fr.
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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| Subjects and Methods |
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In 10 centers in France, we studied ambulatory women, aged 65 yr and over, from the usual practice of the physicians participating in the study. The women were selected because the physicians considered them at high risk for vitamin D insufficiency, and they were enrolled when the 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] serum level was less than 12 ng/ml. The exclusion criteria were hypercalcemia or primary hyperparathyroidism, renal or hepatic insufficiency, and treatment with a bisphosphonate, calcitonin, vitamin D and its metabolites, estrogen, raloxifene, fluoride, anticonvulsants, or other treatments, such as glucocorticoid, that are active on bone metabolism in the previous 6 months. All women were living at home, were ambulatory, and gave written informed consent.
A power analysis was performed before the experiment began. Once the statistical hypothesis were stated (type 1 error: 5%, by one-sided test; type two error, 15%), we obtained a number of 49 subjects in both arms (i.e. 98 patients in total). Taking into account the predictable risk of drop-out of about 30% (in the light of previous studies in the same field), we increased the number of patients included to reach 80 patients in each arm (i.e. 160 patients).
The protocol was approved by the local ethics committee, and the trial was conducted in accordance with good clinical practices and guidelines proposed in the Declaration of Helsinki.
Study design
In the 12-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the subjects were randomly assigned to either the placebo (P) group or the calcium and vitamin D (Ca-Vit D) group. Dietary calcium and vitamin D intakes were assessed at admission. At baseline and during the course of treatment (3, 6, 9, and 12 months), a complete clinical examination (height, weight, blood pressure, and resting pulse rate) was performed. We also assessed biological parameters of calcium homeostasis and of bone remodeling, and BMD was evaluated at baseline and after 12 months of treatment.
The women received either calcium carbonate (500 mg elemental calcium) and cholecalciferol (400 IU) as tablets (n = 95; Ideos Laboratoires, Innothera, France) or matching placebo tablets (n = 97) twice a day.
Status of subjects and compliance
Three hundred and sixty women were selected; among them 192 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included. During the trial 61 subjects discontinued treatment, without a statistical difference between P and Ca-Vit D groups. The mean ± SD rate of compliance with treatment, assessed on the basis of tablet counts, was 88 ± 14% for the Ca-Vit D group and 87 ± 18% for the P group.
Measurements
The daily calcium intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire (11); at the same time, we developed a vitamin D dietary questionnaire to evaluate the daily vitamin D intake.
BMD in the hip, spine, and total body was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry using the device available in each region (Hologic, Inc., Bedford, MA; Lunar Corp., Madison, WI; Norland Medical Systems, Inc., Fort Atkinson, WI). Intrascanner precision ranged from 0.120.26% (12). The results of osteodensitometric evaluations were established by central analysis. The BMD values were standardized by the universal method proposed by Genant (13).
Specimen collection
Blood and urine samples were collected at baseline, then after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of treatment. Fasting blood samples were taken, and serum was removed, then frozen at -80 C. The 24-h urine samples of the previous day were stored at -80 C.
Biochemical measurements
In serum. Measurements of 25-(OH)D were performed using a competitive protein binding assay after ethanol extraction, followed by chromatographic purification (14). Intact PTH (i-PTH) was measured by an immunoluminometric assay (Magic LITE intact PTH, Ciba-Corning, Cergy-Pontoise, France), bone alkaline phosphatase (b-AP) by immunoenzymatic kits (Alkphase-B, Metra-Biosystems Inc., Palo Alto, CA), serum C-telopeptide derivatives (s-CTX) by ELISA (serum Crosslaps one-step, Osteometer A/S, Ballrup, Denmark). Serum calcium was measured by colorimetric methods using an EKTACHEM 500 autoanalyzer (Kodak-Pathe, Paris, France). Interassay reproducibility, expressed as the coefficient of variation, was 10.8% for 25-(OH)D, 3.4% for i-PTH, 7.8% for b-AP, 6.3% for s-CTX, and 1.4% for calcium.
In urine. Measurements were performed on the 24-h urine samples and expressed as the ratio to creatinine. Urinary (u-) N- and C-telopeptides (NTX and CTX) excretion was measured using ELISA with the Osteomark kit (u-NTX; Ostex, Inc., Seattle, WA) and the Crosslaps kit (u-CTX; Osteometer A/S), respectively. Free deoxypyridinoline (f-DPD) was assayed using an immunological kit (Pyrilinks-D ACS, Chiron, Cergy-Pontoise, France). With these assays, the interassay coefficients of variation were less than 10%.
u-Ca and creatinine (u-Cr) were determined by colorimetric methods using the automated system (EKTACHEM 500). u-Ca was expressed as the ratio to creatinine (24huCa/Cr). The interassay reproducibility of both u-Ca and u-Cr, expressed as coefficients of variation, were, respectively, 2.6% and 5.3%.
Statistical analysis
The results of the full analysis set were provided. The statistical analysis was carried out using SAS software version 6.12 (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC). The data were analyzed using the signed-rank test for intragroup comparison and Wilcoxon test to compare the difference in the changes between the two treatments. Two-sided tests were performed with a type I error of 5%. The relationship between variations in BMD at the end point and initial or changes in biological parameters were tested using the Spearman correlation coefficient.
| Results |
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The women who had received the Ca-Vit D supplementation showed a marked increase in 25(OH)D associated with enhanced excretion of urinary calcium and a dramatic decrease (median [Q1; Q3]) in i-PTH levels (-34% [-54; -15]; p = < 0.0001), but without a significant change in calcemia (Table 3
). Simultaneously, we observed a reduction of bone turnover markers, except for f-DPD. When expressed as a percentage of baseline, the changes (median [Q1; Q3]) in bone resorption markers were: u-NTX, 41% [-57; -11]; u-CTX, 46% [-66; -16]; s-CTX, 26% [-46; -13] (all P < 0.0001). The changes in bone formation markers were: b-AP, 14% [-34; +13] (P = 0.0023; Table 3
). The decrease in bone remodeling markers was observed as early as the third month of treatment, particularly for s-CTX, and reached a maximum level after 6 months in the case of u-NTX and u-CTX (Fig. 1
). In the P group a slight, but significant, increase in 25(OH)D associated with a moderate and significant decrease in i-PTH was observed. Similarly, a significant variation in bone remodeling markers was seen at 1 yr only for u-NTX and u-CTX. When we compared the two groups, a significant positive effect of the supplementation was obtained simultaneously for the biological parameters of calcium homeostasis, such as 25 OH-D, i-PTH, and 24HuCa/Cr, and for the bone remodeling markers, with the exception of u-CTX and f-DPD (Table 3
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| Discussion |
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Among our population, the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and the levels of dietary calcium intake were very closely related to prior results (10), confirming the high prevalence of these insufficiencies in French postmenopausal women. For that reason high baseline i-PTH levels were observed, close to those usually reported in studies performed during the winter when 25(OH)D levels are at their lowest (9, 15, 16); however, the increase in i-PTH levels was less dramatic because of the ambulatory status of our population (17). Moreover, as i-PTH concentrations were obtained using different assays, it is difficult to compare the data from various studies. We confirmed the relationship between negative calcium balance and high bone turnover (4), the low BMD status in elderly patients with vitamin D and calcium insufficiency (18), and the ability of vitamin D and calcium supplementation to increase BMD, particularly at sites at major risk of fracture in elderly. After 1 yr, the BMD changes at all sites in our population were higher than those reported by Dawson-Hughes et al. (8), showing a significant effect only in the spine and total body, but not in femoral neck. In the Dawson-Hughes study changes were obtained giving 500 mg calcium and 700 IU vitamin D/d, whereas we used a similar dosage of vitamin D (800 IU), but twice the amount of calcium (1000 mg). Obviously the vitamin D insufficiency characterizing our population plays a partial role in the dramatic effect on BMD; unfortunately, we were unable to assess the effect of such supplementation over a longer period as Dawson-Hughes did. The gain in BMD was approximately equivalent to that in the Chapuy study, in which the same dosages of vitamin D and calcium were provided to an elderly, dramatically vitamin D-depleted, institutionalized population (9). However, we noted that BMD changes after such supplementation for 1 yr remain at only half the level achieved with bisphosphonates such as alendronate (19) and risedronate (20).
Here the positive effects of vitamin D and calcium on BMD were accompanied by a reduction in bone turnover as previously reported, first by Chapuy et al. (9) in an elderly institutionalized population, then by Dawson-Hughes (8) in an ambulatory population of men and women. The supplementation strongly increased 25(OH)D levels and moderately increase u-Ca excretion without modification of calcemia. We observed a normalization of i-PTH values associated with a dramatic decrease in bone turnover markers, and the difference between treated and placebo groups was highly significant. In the P group, a slight decrease in some bone resorption markers without any change in BMD was probably due to a seasonal effect on 25(OH)D levels. Indeed, the vitamin D insufficiency displayed by our subjects, who were mainly recruited during the winter, was partially corrected by sun exposure during the course of spring and summer, resulting in a significant decrease in i-PTH levels and simultaneously in the more sensitive markers of bone resorption (21). Using the new sensitive assays of bone resorption such as CTX or NTX of type I collagen derivatives, we demonstrated that supplementation resulted in dramatic changes in bone resorption as early as 3 months. Moreover, we did not observe significant changes in f-DPD as previously reported by Garnero (22), confirming that f-DPD is not a relevant bone marker for monitoring antiresorptive treatment.
For the first time we demonstrated in a population of postmenopausal women with vitamin D insufficiency treated with vitamin D and calcium supplementation at doses known to prevent hip fracture in elderly people (8, 9) that various bone resorption markers could predict changes in BMD. High baseline values of bone resorption markers or their changes at 3 or 6 months were correlated with variations in BMD after 1 yr. Furthermore, the reduction in bone resorption markers is in line with the cut-off proposed by recent recommendations for the use of biological indexes to monitor osteoporosis (23). These properties have been observed with powerful antiresorptive agents such as bisphosphonates (24, 25) or hormone replacement therapy (26). This is clinically relevant because no short-term evaluation is currently available by another method, such as densitometry, which takes at least 2 yr to show any significant change in a given patient. However in our study the relationship between BMD variations and bone resorption markers was tenuous, probably because the supplementation is a less potent antiresorptive agent than bisphosphonates or hormone replacement therapy, but also because the duration of the study was shorter than in previous studies by Greenspan (24, 25) or Rosen (26).
In conclusion, we confirmed in women with vitamin D insufficiency the ability of a large amount of vitamin D and calcium to enhance bone mass and reduce bone turnover. Moreover, we showed that bone resorption markers, such as derivatives of CTX and NTX of type I collagen, could be useful to the practitioner as a mean of monitoring the effects of such treatment.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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Abbreviations: b-AP, Bone alkaline phosphatase; BMD, bone mineral density; Ca, calcium; Ca-Vit D, calcium and vitamin D group; Cr, creatinine; CTX, C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen; f-DPD, free deoxypyridinoline; i-PTH, intact PTH; 25(OH)D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D; NTX, N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen; P, placebo group; s-, serum; u-, urinary.
Received December 13, 2002.
Accepted July 15, 2003.
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