Osteogenesis and osteoclast inhibition in rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with bisphosphonates alone or in combination with pitavastatin over an 18-month follow-up after more than 4 years of treatment with bisphosphonates

Table 2 Baseline data for bone mineral density (BMD) and serum bone markers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

BMD/serum bone markers	Bisphosphonate group (n= 42)	Bisphosphonate + statin group (n= 35)	P-value Student's t-test
BMD, g/cm ²
Radius	0.35 ± 0.08 (0.12, 0.54)	0.33 ± 0.13 (0.11, 0.63)	0.547
Lumbar spine	0.82 ± 0.18 (0.50, 1.32)	0.82 ± 0.180 (0.51, 1.40)	0.974
Femoral neck	0.64 ± 0.09 (0.39, 0.81)	0.60 ± 0.13 (0.33, 0.79)	0.096
NTX, nmol BCE/l	16.3 ± 5.4 (9.7, 35.6)	15.8 ± 4.2 (9.3, 27.9)	0.690
TRACP-5b, μU/dl	357 ± 1287(131, 628)	350 ± 102 (174, 652)	0.820
PICP, ng/ml	612 ± 218 (384, 1490)	562 ± 205 (289, 1340)	0.315
RANKL, pmol/l	0.27 ± 0.36 (0.13, 1.92)	0.16 ± 0.11 (0.13, 0.63)	0.093

Results are presented as mean ± SD (range). NTX, N-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen; TRACP-5b, tartrate-resistant acid phosphate-5b; PICP, C-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen; RANKL, receptor activator of NF-κB ligand. P-values are for comparisons between the two treatment groups.

ISSN: 1478-6362