[Bone mineral density in patients with multiple sclerosis: the effects of interferon]

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at greater risk of suffering from osteoporosis and pathological fractures, and the use of corticoids together with immobilisation and vitamin D deficiency is one of the causes of low bone mass (BM). AIMS. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of interferon, a drug that has only recently been introduced in the treatment of the disease, on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone remodelling markers.

A total of 30 females and 18 males with MS were studied. A standardised case history report was examined, and determinations of ionic calcium, vitamin D, osteocalcin, iPTH and urinary deoxypyridinoline, together with calcaneus densimetry measurements using a DEXA densimeter were also performed.

The females treated with interferon had a BMD similar to that of those who had only received corticoids. Yet the males treated with interferon had a BMD that was lower than that of those who had not been treated with this drug (0.484 0.104 g/cm2 compared to 0.631 0.143 g/cm2, p= 0.032) and the control group (0.484 0.104 g/cm2 compared to 0.581 0.102 g/cm2, p= 0.015). No differences were found in the bone remodelling parameters.

Males treated with interferon present a decrease in BM, and results are paradoxical because interferon plays a part in regulating bone metabolism and inhibits the development of osteoclasts, the cells responsible for bone resorption.