BACKGROUND Statins are not effective in reducing atherosclerotic plaques of the abdominal aorta, and accumulating evidence suggests that bisphosphonates have the potential to induce the regression of atherosclerotic plaques of the abdominal aorta. METHODS AND RESULTS A prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded-end-point trial involving 108 participants with hypercholesterolemia was conduct...

The aim of the present study was to analyze the effects of short-term treatment with the antiresorptive agent, etidronate, on orchidectomized adult rats, via comparison of three cancellous bone sites, the lumbar vertebral body (LVB), proximal tibial metaphysis (PTM), and distal tibial metaphysis (DTM). Thirty-five male Wistar rats, aged 10 months, were randomly divided into four groups: baselin...

We previously described the discovery of a fetuin-matrix Gla protein (MGP)-mineral complex in the serum of rats treated with the bone-active bisphosphonate etidronate and showed that the appearance of this complex in serum correlates with the inhibition of bone mineralization by etidronate. In this study we show that the inhibition of bone resorption by treatment with the hormone calcitonin, th...

BACKGROUND During the years following menopause, estrogen levels decline leading to accelerated bone loss and an increased risk of osteoporosis and osteoporosis-related fractures. METHODS Using a Markov model and decision analytic techniques, the long-term costs and outcomes of five treatment and secondary prevention strategies for osteoporosis were compared: 'no intervention', alendronate, e...

Bisphosphonates are widely used clinically to treat bone diseases in which bone resorption is in excess. However, the mechanism of bisphosphonate action on bone is not fully understood. Studies of direct action of bisphosphonates on bone have been limited mainly to their effects on bone-resorbing osteoclast cells, with implications that some activity may be mediated indirectly through paracrine...

INTRODUCTION Smear layer (SL) is produced as a result of mechanical instrumentation of the canal(s). Despite the controversies regarding its removal, the evidence-based trend has shifted towards removing and eliminating the SL. Different methods have been used to remove the SL and the aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the ability of 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), 18% etidr...

OBJECTIVE Bisphosphonates are potent antiresorptive agents used for a spectrum of metabolic bone diseases. The aim of this study was to compare the adverse effects (AEs) of alendronate, etidronate and risedronate prescribed in a non-selected population, attending a single institution on an outpatient basis. DESIGN 849 patients receiving either alendronate (n=710), etidronate (n=181) or risedr...

Thyroid hormone has been shown to stimulate bone resorption. Both endogenous hyperthyroidism and exogenous thyroxine suppressive therapy have been associated with reduction in bone mineral density (BMD), but the patholophysiology of thyroxine-induced bone loss is not well understood. First we studied the effect of L-T4 (0.1-0.3 microgram/g body weight ip/day) on bone turnover in rats by measuri...

The purpose of this open-labeled prospective study was to compare the treatment effects of cyclical etidronate and alendronate on the lumbar bone mineral density (BMD), bone resorption, and back pain in elderly women with osteoporosis. Fifty postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, age ranging from 55 to 86 years (mean: 70.7 years), were randomly divided into two groups with 25 patients in each ...