Effect of ipriflavone on bone mineral content in osteoporotic patients

Abstract

Although numerous studies have demonstrated that ipriflavone prevents bone loss, its effect on bone mass remains to be quantitatively assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), a recently developed diagnostic technique which enables precise measurement of bone mineral density (BMD). In this study, we investigated the effect of ipriflavone on BMD in female outpatients with osteoporosis by means of DXA and single-photon absorptiometry (SPA). The study group consisted of 23 female patients with postmenopausal or senile osteoporosis (age: 50–80 years, mean 62.4 years; body weight: 39–63 kg, mean 49.2 kg; height: 145–163 cm, mean 150.8 cm). Nineteen untreated female outpatients (age: 61–65 years) served as a control group. BMD of L1-4 in both the study and control groups was measured by DXA before and after 1 year of treatment with and without ipriflavone (600 mg/day per os), but only 19 of the study group patients were evaluated for BMD by SPA at the radius. For DXA, the mean BMD in the study group was 0.651 g/cm2 before ipriflavone treatment and 0.647 g/cm2 after treatment, with a mean percent change in BMD of 99.5%. For SPA, the mean BMD was 0.495 g/cm2 before ipriflavone treatment and 0.504 g/cm2 after treatment, with a mean percent change in BMD of 101.6%. For patients in the study group aged 61–65 years (n=9), the mean percent change in BMD by DXA after 1 year of treatment was 101.6%. In contrast, the mean percent change in BMD for the control patients of the same age bracket (n=19) was 96.5%. The results by DXA confirmed that ipriflavone inhibits loss of bone mass, making it a useful agent for the treatment of postmenopausal and senile osteoporosis.