Peter Vestergaard

Effects of Simvastatin on Bone Turnover and BMD: A 1-Year Randomized Controlled Trial in Postmenopausal Osteopenic Women†

To study effects of statins on human bone, 82 postmenopausal women were randomized to 1‐year treatment with simvastatin 40 mg/day or placebo. The study showed no effect of simvastatin on biochemical bone markers or on BMD at the hip or spine. Thus, our results do not support a general beneficial effect of simvastatin on bone.

Loop Diuretics Increase Bone Turnover and Decrease BMD in Osteopenic Postmenopausal Women: Results From a Randomized Controlled Study With Bumetanide†

To study effects of loop diuretics on bone, 87 women were randomized to 1 year of treatment with bumetanide or placebo. Compared with placebo, bumetanide decreased BMD by 2% at the total hip and by 1.4% at the whole body. Levels of biochemical bone markers were lower in the placebo than in the bumetanide group. Thus, treatment with loop diuretics affects bone metabolism.

Statins decrease bone turnover in postmenopausal women: a cross-sectional study.

Background Statins have been suggested as potential agents in the management of osteoporosis. Reviews of medical records have shown an increased bone mass and some studies have shown a reduced occurrence of fractures in subjects on long‐term treatment with statins. We studied the effects of treatment with statins on calcium homeostasis, bone turnover and bone mineral density.

Effects of thiazide‐ and loop‐diuretics, alone or in combination, on calcitropic hormones and biochemical bone markers: a randomized controlled study

Abstract.u2002Rejnmark L, Vestergaard P, Heickendorff L, Andreasen F, Mosekilde L (Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark). Effects of thiazide‐ and loop‐diuretics, alone or in combination, on calcitropic hormones and biochemical bone markers: a randomized controlled study (Original study). J Intern Med 2001; 250: 144–153.

Dose‐effect relations of loop‐ and thiazide‐diuretics on calcium homeostasis: a randomized, double‐blinded Latin‐square multiple cross‐over study in postmenopausal osteopenic women

Background Thiazide diuretics (TDs) reduce whereas loop diuretics (LDs) increase urinary calcium. We studied the effects of different doses of a TD and LD on electrolytes, calcitropic hormones and biochemical bone markers.

Regional and hormone-dependent effects of apolipoprotein E genotype on changes in bone mineral in perimenopausal women.

We studied 479 perimenopausal Danish women aged 45–58 years to examine differences between APOE genotypes with respect to (1) baseline total body bone mineral density (BMD) and densities measured in five different regions (ultradistal forearm, proximal forearm, lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip region); (2) serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, bone isoenzyme alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, parathyroid hormone (PTH), 25‐hydroxyvitamin D, and urine hydroxyproline/creatinine excretion ratio; and (3) changes in bone mineral during 5 years of follow‐up. Baseline BMDs were identical, whereas serum levels of alkaline phosphatase and its bone isoenzyme were higher in women with APOE 2–2 and APOE 2–3 than in women with APOE 3–3 and APOE 3–4 and lower in women with APOE 4–4. Among women not receiving hormonal‐replacement therapy (HRT; n = 262), those with APOE 2–2 and APOE 2–3 had 30–40% lower rates of femoral neck and total hip bone mineral loss than women with APOE 3–3 and APOE 3–4, whereas the rates of mineral loss in other skeletal regions did not differ between these APOE genotypes. Women with APOE 4–4 appeared to have lower rates of bone mineral loss in all regions. Women treated with hormones throughout the follow‐up period (n = 113) gained bone mineral, and women with APOE 3–4 and APOE 4–4 gained relatively more mineral than other women. A comparison of untreated and treated women with APOE 2–3, APOE 3–3, and APOE 3–4 suggests a possible modification of the effect of APOE genotype by HRT. In conclusion, the common APOE polymorphism has a complex effect on bone metabolism in perimenopausal Danish women including possible modification by hormone use: (1) among women not receiving HRT, those with APOE2 have lower bone mineral losses in the femoral neck and hip region than other women, and (2) among women receiving HRT, those with APOE4 gain more bone mineral than other women.

Loop diuretics alter the diurnal rhythm of endogenous parathyroid hormone secretion. A randomized‐controlled study on the effects of loop‐ and thiazide‐diuretics on the diurnal rhythms of calcitropic hormones and biochemical bone markers in postmenopausal women

Background Thiazide diuretics (TD) reduce urinary calcium, bone loss and fracture risk. Loop diuretics (LD) may have opposite effects. These effects could depend on induced rhythmic changes in bone and calcium homeostasis.