Osteomalacia: the missing link in the pathogenesis of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws?

Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) is a well-documented adverse event from treatment with nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates (NBPs). During a preliminary histomorphometric study aimed at assessing the rate of bone remodeling in the jaws of patients with surgically resected BRONJ, we found a defect of bone mineralization (unpublished data). We hypothesized that osteomalacia could be a risk factor for BRONJ in patients taking NBPs. Therefore, we looked for static and dynamic histomorphometric evidence of osteomalacia in biopsies from subjects with and without BRONJ.

This case-control study used histomorphometric analysis of bone specimens of patients using NBPs (22 patients with BRONJ and 21 patients without BRONJ) who required oral surgical interventions for the treatment/prevention of osteonecrosis. Patients were given tetracycline hydrochloride according to a standardized protocol before taking bone biopsies from their jaws. Biopsies with evidence of osteomyelitis or necrosis at histology were excluded from the study. Osteomalacia was defined as a mineralization lag time >100 days, a corrected mean osteoid thickness >12.5 mm, and an osteoid volume >10%.

In all, 77% of patients with BRONJ were osteomalacic compared with 5% of patients without BRONJ, according to histomorphometry. Because osteomalacia was found almost exclusively in NBP users with BRONJ, this is likely to be a generalized process in which the use of NBPs further deteriorates mechanisms of bone repair.

Osteomalacia represents a new and previously unreported risk factor for disease development. This finding may contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease and help with the development of strategies to increase the safety of NBP administration.