Liver Cirrhosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Liver Cirrhosis, including details on alcohol, treatment, drugs, effects, causes.

Raloxifene improves bone mass in osteopenic women with primary biliary cirrhosis: results of a pilot study.

Levy C, Harnois DM, Angulo P, Jorgensen R, Lindor KD

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Bone disease is common in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Our aim was to evaluate safety and efficacy of raloxifene in this population. METHODS: Nine postmenopausal women with PBC were enrolled and seven completed the study. Subjects received raloxifene 60 mg daily for 1 year. Each patient on raloxifene was age-matched to three controls. Liver biochemistries were monitored periodically; bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) was measured at baseline and at 1 year. RESULTS: No significant adverse effects were reported. Liver biochemistries remained unchanged. Baseline LS-BMD was similar in the treatment group and controls [median 0.720 g/cm(2) (range 0.620-0.867) vs. 0.740 g/cm(2) (0.570-1.040), P=0.5]. CONCLUSION: Compared with baseline, LS-BMD improved significantly with 1 year of therapy [0.72 g/cm(2) (0.62-0.87) vs. 0.74 g/cm(2) (0.63-0.97), P=0.02]. FN-BMD remained stable [0.53 g/cm(2) (0.50-0.60) vs. 0.54 g/cm(2) (0.49-0.63), P=0.6]. Improvement in LS BMD was seen in patients on raloxifene but not in matched controls [0.02 g/cm(2) (0.01-0.10) vs. 0.00 g/cm(2) (-0.120-0.040), P=0.06)]. In conclusion, raloxifene appears safe and of benefit in preventing bone loss in patients with PBC. Larger studies with longer follow-up are warranted.

Published 8 February 2005 in Liver Int, 25(1): 117-21.
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