Ipriflavone and low doses of estrogens in the prevention of bone mineral loss in climacterium.

Summary Estrogen replacement therapy can counteract all postmenopausal symptoms. While low estrogen doses (0.15–0.30 mg of conjugated estrogens/day) can counteract neurovegetative and psychological symptoms, higher estrogen doses (at least 0.625 mg of conjugated estrogens/day) are required to prevent bone mineral loss in postmenopausal women. However, if contra-indications to high estrogen doses exist, drugs other than estrogens can represent a suitable treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis both alone or in combination with low estrogen doses. Experimental and clinical data have shown that ipriflavone is effective in the treatment of established postmenopausal osteoporosis. With the purpose of evaluating whether ipriflavone is able to enhance estrogen activity on bone metabolism, 133 postmenopausal women were randomly submitted to the treatment with: (1) placebo; (2) 0.15 mg/day of conjugated estrogens; (3) 0.30 mg/day of conjugated estrogens; (4) 0.15 mg/day of conjugated estrogens plus 600 mg/day of ipriflavone; (5) 0.30 mg/day of conjugated estrogens plus 600 mg/day of ipriflavone. One g/day of calcium supplementation was given to all women. In all subjects bone mineral density was measured before and after 6 and 12 months of treatment at the distal radius by dual-photon absorptiometry. A moderate decrease of bone mineral density was evidenced in women submitted to placebo or to estrogen therapy alone. By contrast, an increase of BMD was measured after 12 months of treatment in the women treated with 0.15 (not significant) or 0.30 mg/day ( P