Meta analysis of zoledronic acid on the bone markers among osteoporosis patients

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease that is characterized by compromised bone strength predisposing a person to an increased risk of fracture. Zoledronic acid (ZOL) is an aminobisphosphonate with a high affinity for mineralized bone. This review of relevant meta-analysis aimed to clarify the effect of ZOL in treatment and prevention of osteoporosis. Random control trials that investigated the evidence for the role of ZOL in treatment of osteoporosis was obtained through a comprehensive literature search for the database of MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Chinese Biomedical Database up to September 2011. The RevMan software was used for all of the statistical analysis. A total of 6 trials were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled percentage changes of bone mineral density (BMD) for ZOL experimental group were improved by 215% compared with the placebo, and reduce the rate of fracture in patients by 48%. We also found the ZOL intervention may induce less adverse effects by 13% compared with placebo. From the subgroup analysis we found the long term intervention of ZOL could gain a high BMD and could prevent more fracture compared with placebo. Additionally, ZOL improved more BMD among patients above 50 years of age. In conclusion, our findings showed that ZOL is a well and effective approach in the prevention of osteoporosis, especially more effective in high risk group of osteoporosis. Key words: Meta-analysis, intravenous zoledronic acid, osteoporosis, bone mineral density, fracture.