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Einstein Researchers Find Osteoporosis Drug
May Help Women with Kidney Disease
Newswise, October 2010 — The osteoporosis
drug raloxifene may be useful in treating
kidney disease in women, suggests a new
study led by Michal
Melamed, M.D., M.H.S.,
assistant professor ofmedicine and epidemiology
& population health at
the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine of
Yeshiva University.
According to government
statistics,
an estimated 23 million American adults over
age 20 suffers from chronic kidney
disease―more than one out of 10. More than a
half-million patients are under treatment
for end-stage renal disease. New treatments
are urgently needed.
In the study, published in the October 6
online edition ofKidney
International,
Dr. Melamed and Sharon
Silbiger, M.D.,
professor of clinical medicine and associate
chair for undergraduate medical education at
Einstein, looked at data from the Multiple
Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation (MORE)
trial, a study of 7,705 post-menopausal
women with osteoporosis conducted from 1994
to 1999.
The women were randomly assigned to take
either 60 or 120 mg of raloxifene (Evista)
per day or a placebo, and were given a blood
test yearly to assess kidney function.
After three years, women taking raloxifene
had less of a decline in kidney function
than women taking a placebo.
More specifically, compared with women in
the placebo group, women on the 60 mg
raloxifene dose had a statistically
significant slower yearly rate of increase
in the blood creatinine level, high levels
of which are an indicator of poor kidney
function.
Women on both doses of raloxifene
experienced a statistically significant
slowing in the decrease of their glomerular
filtration rate (GFR). GFR naturally
declines with age.
A significant decline can be an early
indicator of kidney disease that requires
intervention. Physicians are looking for
medications that slow the decline in GFR,
and this study shows that raloxifene may
have this effect.
“There are few treatments for kidney
disease, so if further studies confirm these
findings, raloxifene potentially could be
widely used as another treatment. What's
needed now is a rigorous study on raloxifene
in women with advanced kidney disease,” Dr.
Melamed said. She noted that because
raloxifene works on estrogen receptors, the
drug might cause side effects if given to
men.
