Alendronate protects against type 2 diabetes development, study shows

Denmark: A recent study has revealed that alendronate may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes with a potential 50% risk reduction after 8 years of alendronate use. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, held virtually from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1. 

The study authors Rikke Viggers and Peter Vestergaard from Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark propose future clinical research to find if alendronate impacts glucose homeostasis, eg. glycemic control and insulin sensitivity, and if it is different for people with and without t pre- or type 2 diabetes. 

Previous studies have suggested a link between glucose homeostasis and bone metabolism. Bisphosphonates are the first-line treatment of osteoporosis. Considering this, the study authors aimed to investigate if the risk of developing type 2 diabetes was altered by previous use of alendronate in a population-based case-control study. 

For the study, all cases with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes between 2008 and 2018 were matched with three randomly selected controls based on sex and age by incidence-density sampling. Data were included for 163,588 patients with type 2 diabetes and 490,764 matched controls. 

"These results suggest a possible protective effect of alendronate in a dose-dependent manner against the development of type 2 diabetes with a potential 50% risk reduction after 8 years of alendronate use," the authors wrote. 

"Excitingly, our research suggests that alendronate, an inexpensive medicine widely used to treat osteoporosis, may also protect against type 2 diabetes," Viggers said in a statement. "We believe that doctors should consider this when prescribing osteoporosis drugs to those with prediabetes or at high risk of type 2 diabetes." 

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