Objectives:

To assess serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 25(OH)D, in osteoporotic patients treated for one year with calcifediol.

Methods:

We have studied 156 patients with osteoporosis (23 males and 133 females), aged 71,9±9,6 years who had received treatment with calcifediol for at least one year. Ninety-two of them received 0.266 mg of calcifediol every fifteen days and the remaining 64 the same dose once a month. Serum levels of 25(OH)D, intact PTH (iPTH), procollagen type 1 amino-terminal propeptide (PINP) and C-terminal crosslinked telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) were determined before and one year after starting treatment.

Results:

A significant increase in the concentration of 25(OH)D was observed with both treatment regimens (p<0.001). The percentage of patients who reached levels of 25(OH)D higher than 20 and 30 ng/ml was similar with both guidelines, while the percentage of patients exceeding 60 ng/ml was higher with the biweekly dose (p<0.01). The concentration of iPTH decreased significantly after the administration of calcifediol, although on this occasion there were no differences between the two forms of treatment. Both bone remodeling markers, PINP and CTX, decreased similarly in patients treated with antiresorptives (p<0.0001), without these changes being related to the calcifediol regimen.

Conclusions:

The monthly administration of 0.266 mg of calcifediol is adequate to achieve effective levels of vitamin D, and it is also safe enough to avoid reaching potentially harmful levels of it, so it would be preferable to the biweekly schedule in the usual clinical practice.

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