Vitamin D insufficiency does not affect bone mineral density response to raloxifene.

Author(s): Antoniucci DM, Vittinghoff E, Blackwell T, Black DM, Sellmeyer DE

Affiliation(s): Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA. dantoniucci@psg.ucsf.edu

Publication date & source: 2005-08, J Clin Endocrinol Metab., 90(8):4566-72. Epub 2005 May 17.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Multicenter Study; Randomized Controlled Trial

CONTEXT: Vitamin D insufficiency and osteoporosis are common and often coexist in postmenopausal women. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to test whether the presence of vitamin D insufficiency at the initiation of raloxifene therapy affected the subsequent response of bone mineral density (BMD). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: We studied 7522 postmenopausal participants of the Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation, a placebo-controlled trial of the effects of raloxifene on BMD and fracture. INTERVENTION: After enrollment, all participants began daily supplements of 500 mg calcium and 400-600 IU cholecalciferol; 1 month later, women were randomly assigned to placebo or raloxifene. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Serum levels of vitamin D [25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD)] were measured at enrollment, randomization, and 6 months later. We categorized participants' vitamin D status (deficient, insufficient, or sufficient) based on their randomization 25OHD level. We estimated the effects of treatment on BMD within these subgroups using linear regression models. RESULTS: At enrollment, 3.2% of participants were vitamin D deficient, and 51.8% were insufficient; after 7 months of cholecalciferol supplementation, 0.2% of all participants remained D deficient, and 23.6% remained insufficient. The effects of raloxifene on hip and spine BMD did not vary by vitamin D status at randomization (P = 0.08 and P = 0.7, respectively). CONCLUSION: We conclude that vitamin D status at initiation of raloxifene therapy does not affect the subsequent BMD response when coadministered with cholecalciferol and calcium. After 7 months of cholecalciferol therapy, very few women continued to have 25OHD levels in the deficient range; however, 25OHD levels remained suboptimal in nearly one fourth of the cohort. Additional research is needed to determine whether these observations can be generalized to other antiresorptive agents.