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Calcitriol for bone disease in patients with cirrhosis of the liver
Author(s) -
Shiomi Susumu,
Masaki Kyoko,
Habu Daiki,
Takeda Tadashi,
Nishiguchi Shuhei,
Kuroki Tetsuo,
Tanaka Takashi,
Ochi Hironobu
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1440-1746
pISSN - 0815-9319
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1746.1999.01913.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cirrhosis , calcitriol , bone disease , osteoporosis , bone mineral , liver disease , percentile , gastroenterology , vitamin d and neurology , statistics , mathematics
Background: Osteoporosis is associated with cirrhosis of the liver, but the effects of therapy for osteoporosis associated with cirrhosis are still controversial.Methods: We evaluated the effects of calcitriol (1α,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D 3 ) on bone mineral density (BMD) in 76 patients (26 men and 50 women) with cirrhosis who were assigned randomly to receive calcitriol (0.5 mg twice per day) or not. The BMD of the lumbar vertebrae was measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry at least twice, 12–57 months apart.Results: For men, the mean annual change in BMD was 1.1% in the treated group and –0.4% in the control group. The median (25th and 75th percentiles) annual change in BMD was 0.6 (–0.1, 2.1%) in the treated group and –1.4 (–1.9, 1.6%) in the control group. The difference in the median annual change between the two groups was significant ( P = 0.013). For women, the mean annual change in BMD was –0.5% in the treated group and –2.3% in the control group. The median (25th and 75th percentiles) annual change in BMD was –0.5 (–1.8, 1.3%) in the treated group and –1.5 (–3.8, –0.7%) in the control group. This difference was significant ( P = 0.011).Conclusions: Our results suggest that calcitriol can prevent bone loss and, therefore, may be useful for the treatment of bone disease in patients with cirrhosis of the liver. © 1999 Blackwell Science Asia Pty Ltd