Effect of estriol and bone mineral density of lumbar vertebrate in elderly and postmenopausal women

Abstract

To compare the efficacy of estriol (E3) in post menopausal and senile osteoporosis, we administered orally 1 g/day calcium lactate either alone (control groups) or with 2 mg/day estriol (estrogen groups) for 10 months to 20 postmenopausal women aged 50-65 years and to 29 elderly women aged 70-84 years, and measured their bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebrate by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Out of 41 subjects who completed 10 months of treatment, 8 menopausal women and 12 elderly women in the estrogen groups had significant (p < 0.05) increases in bone mineral density (5.59 ± 4.79% of the respective basal values). Ten postmenopausal women and 11 elderly women in the control groups had decreases bone mineral density (-4.02 ± 7.00% and -3.26 ± 4.60% of the respective basal values) at the 10th month. Genital bleeding as a side effect of estriol was seen in 6 out of 29 elderly subject at this dose. Moreover, decreases inn the levels of calcium, total cholesterol, and triglycerides in serum, and an increase in the level of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were seen only in the elderly women receiving estriol. Although a lower dosage of estriol may be recommended for elderly subject, these observations suggest that hormone replacement therapy with estriol is effective against degenerative osteoporosis, and that low- turnover bones in elderly women were also responsive to estriol.