Abstract
We studied the effect of a synthetic eelcalcitonin analog (Elcatonin: ECT) on changes in bone mineral content in 61 patients with renal osteodystrophy undergoing chronic hemodialysis (32 males and 29 females; mean age: 51.1±12.8 years, mean duration of hemodialysis: 10.4±4.4 years). The patients were given a 40-IU infusion of ECT during each hemodialysis session for 12 months, and their bone mineral content was evaluated every 6 months. We determined the bone mineral content of the parietal bone and the 3rd lumbar vertebra by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) using an X-ray bone densitometer (QDR-1000/W, HOLOGIC Co., Ltd., USA). ECT administration caused an significant increase in the bone mineral content of the parietal bone, which is a cortical bone, but no significant change in the lumbar vertebra, a spongy bone. ECT administration significantly increased the bone mineral content of the parietal bone in patients with low bone mineral content and high PTH levels before ECT therapy. However, there does not appear to be any correlation between bone mineral content and the duration of hemodialysis.
ECT therapy also significantly decreased ALP and OH-Pro levels, but did not affect PTH or ALPiso levels.
These findings suggest that increases in bone mineral content by ECT are often observed in cortical bone in hemodialysis patients and that ECT has an inhibitory effect on bone absorption and an action which increases bone mineral content. On the other hand, determination of bone mineral content by DEXA is thought to be a useful method for the diagnosis of renal osteodystrophy and the evaluation of therapeutic effects.
