Authors' response: the role of risedronate in osteopenia in Crohn's disease

We read with interest the comments of Buchan and Manuel concerning our risedronate intervention trial in osteopenic patients with Crohn's disease.1 2 They stipulated that exclusion of patients with vitamin D deficiency limited the significance of the performed study, as this deficiency is frequently observed in Crohn's disease. It is however well known that replenishment of vitamin D (and calcium) in patients with vitamin D deficiency would lead to a rapid improvement of bone density, irrespective of any effect of risedronate. As assessment of a therapeutic effect of the latter was our primary study aim, we decided to exclude patients with vitamin D deficiency. In addition to their observation that present-day treatment strategies for osteopenia in patients with Crohn's disease are primarily based on suboptimal study data, a recent meta-analysis from 19 randomised controlled trials concerning low bone mineral density in patients with IBD, though...

Source: Gut - December 8, 2014 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: van Bodegraven, A. A., Witte, B. I., Lips, P., for the Crohn and Bone Study Group of the Dutch Initiative on Crohn and Colitis (ICC) Tags: PostScript Source Type: research