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Aims/Introduction: Postmenopausal women receive bisphosphonates for osteoporosis treatment. The effect of these medications on developing diabetes mellitus in prediabetic patients is yet to be investigated. We aimed to determine the effect of alendronate on plasma glucose, insulin indices of postmenopausal women with prediabetes and osteopenia. Materials and Methods: The present triple‐blind randomized controlled clinical trial included 60 postmenopausal women, aged 45–60 years. All patients were vitamin D sufficient. They were randomly enrolled in intervention (70 mg/week alendronate for 12 weeks) and control (placebo tablet per week for 12 weeks) groups. The morning 8‐h fasting blood samples were collected at the baseline and follow‐up visits to measure the fasting plasma glucose (mg/dL), insulin and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Plasma glucose and insulin concentration were measured 30, 60 and 120 min after the glucose tolerance test. The Matsuda Index, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, homeostasis model assessment of β‐cell function and the area under the curves of glucose and insulin were calculated. Results: The mean (standard deviation) fasting plasma glucose (102.43 [1.46] mg/dL vs 94.23 [1.17] mg/dL, P = 0.001), 120‐min insulin concentration (101.86 [15.70] mU/L vs 72.60 [11.36] mU/L, P = 0.026), HbA1c (5.60 [0.06]% vs 5.40 [0.05]%, P = 0.001), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (3.57 [0.45] vs 2.62 [0.24], P = 0.021) and Matsuda Index (7.7 [0.41] vs 9.2 [0.4], P = 0.001) significantly improved in the alendronate‐treated group. There were more statistically significant reductions in fasting plasma glucose (−8.2 [8.63] mg/dL vs −2.5 [14.26] mg/dL, P = 0.002) and HbA1c (−0.2 [0.23]% vs −0.09 [0.26]%, P = 0.015) observed in the alendronate‐treated group than the placebo group during the study course, respectively. Conclusions: Administration of 70 mg/week alendronate improves fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c and insulin indices in postmenopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common chronic autoimmune disorder that leads to damage of human joints. There are various treatment approaches in which different drugs are prescribed which have several alterations in serum lipids. This research aimed to study the effect of RA treatments on the serum lipids. Materials and Methods: Two hundred randomly selected patients with RA were randomly assigned to three different groups. The first group of patients was treated with a combination of prednisolone (PRD) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). The second group was treated with three drugs including PRD, HCQ, and methotrexate (MTX). The third group was treated with four medications including PRD, HCQ, MTX, and sulfasalazine. Within each group, the lipid factors such as triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and visual analog scale were measured at the beginning of the experiment and 6 months after exposing the treatments. For each group, we also calculated the Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS-28). The analysis of variance revealed that the overall DAS-28 was significantly different among the three groups. Results: In the first group, the level of TG and TC significantly decreased (P = 0.015 and P - 0.001, respectively). In the second group, the level of TG and LDL significantly decreased (P = 0.009). In the third group, the LDL level increased considerably (P < 0.001). The HDL level significantly increased in all three groups (P = 0.012, P = 0.014, and P = 0.028, respectively). Conclusion: The treatment PRD + HCQ + MTX was more effective in reducing the LDL level and increasing the HDL level. To reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases in patients with RA, it is important to prescribe the combination of drugs which leads and normalizes the lipid profile levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone is a dynamic organ undergoing remodeling through the coordinated resorption and formation activities between osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Osteoporosis is regarded as degenerative disease that is one of the biggest problems in elderly people. Osteoporosis is a multi-factorial disease. Age-related oxidative stress causes osteoporosis via adversely affecting both osteoblasts and osteoclasts. On the other hands, one of defense mechanisms against reactive oxygen species is antioxidant. Fruits and vegetables are the sources of antioxidants alleviating osteoporosis caused by oxidative stress. Hence, the aim of this review article is to illustrate the favored effects of antioxidants therapy to mitigate osteoporosis caused by oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]