EFFECTIVE THERAPY OF GLUCOCORTICOID-INDUCED OSTEOPOROSIS WITH MEDROXYPROGESTERONE ACETATE

The effect of long-acting medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on the trabecular bone density in patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GCO) was evaluated. Thirteen steroid-dependent asthmatic male patients with GCO were administered 200 mg MPA intramuscularly at 6-week intervals and 1 g of elemental calcium daily for a period of 1 year. Ten additional matched steroid-dependent asthmatic male patients received 1 g of elemental calcium daily (controls). All 23 patients involved in the study had vertebral trabecular bone densitometry (TBD) by quantitative computed tomography (QCT) at baseline and at 6 and 12 months into the study. A 17% increase in TBD was found in the MPA-treated patients at 1 year (from 68.5±5 to 80.2±4 mg K2HPO4/cc) in contrast to the control group who experienced a 21% decrease in TBD during the same period of time (from 80.5±7 to 63.7±8 mg K2HPO4/cc) (T=6.90, P=0.0001 df=21). There were no significant changes in other parameters followed during the study in the MPA-treated group (serum calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, PTH, alkaline phosphatase, triglycerides, total and HDL cholesterol, urinary excretion of calcium, phosphate, creatinine) except for a decrease in the serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone (P<0.01) as well as of the hydroxyproline-creatinine ratio (P<0.01). The results lend support to the hypothesis of a progesterone-glucocorticoid competitive antagonism at the bone level, though other possibilities can be entertained, and suggest MPA as an effective therapy for glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in men. © 1990 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.