Upper gastrointestinal and overall tolerability of alendronate once weekly in patients with osteoporosis: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

SUMMARYObjective: To compare the upper gastrointestinal (GI) and overall tolerability profiles of alendronate 70 mg once weekly with placebo.Research design and methods: This 12-week international, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial included 449 postmenopausal women and men with osteoporosis at 44 sites in 19 countries in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Subjects were randomized to alendronate 70 mg once weekly or matching placebo in a 1:1 ratio.Main outcome measures: The safety and tolerability of weekly alendronate and placebo were captured as clinical and laboratory adverse events. The primary endpoint was upper GI tolerability based on the incidence of upper GI tract adverse events. Secondary endpoints included the percentage of subjects who discontinued therapy due to a drug-related upper GI adverse event. Change from baseline in bone turnover as measured by the urinary N-telopeptide-collagen crosslinks corrected for creatinine (NTx/Cr) was assessed at 12 ...