Effectiveness of monthly intravenous ibandronate on the low responders to oral bisphosphonate: the MOVEMENT study

Intravenous bisphosphonates do not improve knee pain or bone marrow lesions in people with knee osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To summarise effects of intravenous bisphosphonates (IVBP) in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) and bone marrow lesions (BMLs), using a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

METHODS

Literature databases were searched for placebo-controlled RCTs of IVBPs for knee OA from inception, and included validated pain and function scales, BML size, and incidence of adverse events. Efficacy was compared using standardized mean differences (SMD) and risk ratios (RR) with fixed-effect or random-effects models. Methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool, heterogeneity was assessed by I2 statistics.

RESULTS

We included 428 patients in 4 RCTs of 2-24 months duration; most patients (84%) received zoledronic acid (ZA). Risk of bias was low-moderate. IVBP had large effect sizes on pain within 3 months (SMD= -2.33 (95% confidence interval= -3.02, -1.65)) mainly driven by neridronate (resulting in substantial heterogeneity, I 2=92%) with no effect for ZA alone. Differences in knee function were statistically significant at 3 months (SMD=-0.22 (-0.43, -0.01), I 2=0.2%). Effect sizes for pain did not reach statistical significance at any other time point. IVBPs improved a semi-quantitative measure of BML size within 6 months (SMD= -0.52 (-0.89, -0.14), I 2=0%) but not at 12 months or two years. Adverse events (RR = 1.19 (1.00, 1.41) I 2=52%), occurred more frequently with IVBP.

CONCLUSION

ZA has no effect on knee pain, possibly a short-term effect on BML size and higher rates of adverse events. Neridronate may improve pain in the short term, but this is based on a single trial.

Effects of monthly intravenous ibandronate on bone mineral density and microstructure in patients with primary osteoporosis after teriparatide treatment: The MONUMENT study

PURPOSE

To investigate the effects of sequential therapy with monthly intravenous ibandronate on bone mineral density (BMD) and microstructure in patients with primary osteoporosis who received teriparatide treatment.

METHODS

Sixty-six patients with primary osteoporosis who had undergone teriparatide treatment for more than 12 months (mean 18.6 months) received sequential therapy with 1 mg/month intravenous ibandronate for 12 months. The patients were evaluated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), quantitative ultrasound, bone turnover markers, and high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) at baseline and 6 and 12 months after beginning administration.

RESULTS

At 12 months after beginning sequential therapy, the bone resorption marker, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-5b, decreased by 39.5%, with 82.3% of the patients exhibiting levels within the normal limit. DXA revealed that the BMD of the lumbar spine increased by 3.2%, with 79.0% of the patients exhibiting a response, and 40.3% experiencing an increase in BMD over 5%. HR-pQCT revealed that the cortical thickness of the distal tibia was increased by 2.6%. The cortical area increased by 2.5%, and the buckling ratio (an index of cortical instability) decreased by 2.5%. Most parameters of the trabecular bone showed no significant changes. These changes in the cortical bone were observed in both the distal radius and tibia and appeared beginning 6 months after treatment initiation.

CONCLUSIONS

Sequential therapy with monthly intravenous ibandronate increased the BMD and improved the cortical bone microstructure of osteoporotic patients who had undergone teriparatide treatment.