title: Calcitriol for bone loss in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.
abstract: Because osteoporosis is a common complication of primary biliary cirrhosis, we evaluated the effects of calcitriol (1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) on bone mineral density in 34 women with primary biliary cirrhosis (stage I disease in 16 patients, stage II in 9, stage III in 4, and stage IV in 5). Patients were assigned randomly to receive calcitriol (0.5mg twice a day) or not. Bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebrae was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at least twice during a period of 12-43 months. The mean annual change in bone mineral density was 0.1% in the treatment group and -3.1% in the control group. The median annual change (with 25th and 75th percentiles) in bone mineral density was 0.3% (-0.5%, 1.9%) in the treated group and -3.1% (-4.1%, -2.1%) in the control group. This difference between the two groups was significant (P = 0.0007, Mann-Whitney U-test). Our findings suggest that calcitriol prevents bone loss and may be an effective treatment for osteoporosis in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiomi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Masaki
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Habu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishiguchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ochi
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013995:Time
chemical_list: D002117:Calcitriol