Effects of adding alendronate to ongoing hormone therapy on bone mineral density in postmenopausal Korean women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of adding the bisphosphonate alendronate (ALEN) to ongoing hormone therapy (HT) on bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal Korean women.This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial at a university hospital included a total of 139 postmenopausal women who had low BMD after HT lasting at least 1 year. Women received either ALEN (10 mg/d) or placebo in combination with HT for 1 year. Changes in BMD and biochemical markers of bone turnover were evaluated.Lumbar spine and total hip BMDs increased significantly in both treatment groups after 1 year. The addition of ALEN, when compared with HT alone, did not produce a significant change in BMD at the lumbar spine (3.7% vs 4.3%) and total hip (2.2% vs 3.2%) after adjusting for controllable variables. Serum osteocalcin showed a similar change, but urinary deoxypyridinoline response differed between treatment groups.Compared with HT alone, the addition of ALEN to ongoing HT for 1 year does not make a difference in BMD among postmenopausal Korean women with low BMD.