The effect of Kami-kihi-to on the maintenance of bone mass in patients with osteoporosis / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

We administered active vitamin D (AVD) to female patients with osteoporosis at a dose of 1μg, or Kami-kihi-to (KKT) at a dose of 7.5g every day for 6 months. To measure bone mass in patients with osteoporosis we employed the computed X-ray densitometer (CXD) method and examined change of bone mass and blood biochemical analysis in patients on long-term therapy with AVD or KKT. Patients with osteoporosis were divided into three groups: Control group, AVD group and KKT group. One year after administration, the bone mass of AVD and KKT groups significantly increased compared to that of the control group. Moreover, the KKT group clearly showed an increased red blood cell (RBC) count and an improvement of the simple menopause index (SMI) which correlated with bone mass and induced hemopoiesis. Two years after administration, the difference in bone mass between the AVD and control groups further increased. In contrast, the KKT group did not show any recovery of osteoporosis, anemia or SMI compared with 1 year previously. This indicates that the increase in bone mass associated with AVD is transient. These results demonstrate that KKT gradually activated bone metabolism and indirectly increased bone mass. Further modified methods of KKT administration such as increasing dose and duration may have potential for the treatment of osteoporosis with reduced cortical bone formation.