Vitamin d status predicts 30 day mortality in hospitalised cats

Vitamin D insufficiency, defined as low serum concentrations of the major circulating form of vitamin D, 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), has been associated with the development of numerous infectious, inflammatory, and neoplastic disorders in humans. In addition, vitamin D insufficiency has been found to be predictive of mortality for many disorders. However, interpretation of human studies is difficult since vitamin D status is influenced by many factors, including diet, season, latitude, and exposure to UV radiation. In contrast, domesticated cats do not produce vitamin D cutaneously, and most cats are fed a commercial diet containing a relatively standard amount of vitamin D. Consequently, domesticated cats are an attractive model system in which to examine the relationship between serum 25(OH)D and health outcomes. The hypothesis of this study was that vitamin D status would predict short term, all-cause mortality in domesticated cats. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D, together with a wide range of other clinical, hematological, and biochemical parameters, were measured in 99 consecutively hospitalised cats. Cats which died within 30 days of initial assessment had significantly lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations than cats which survived. In a linear regression model including 12 clinical variables, serum 25(OH)D concentration in the lower tertile was significantly predictive of mortality. The odds ratio of mortality within 30 days was 8.27 (95% confidence interval 2.54-31.52) for cats with a serum 25(OH)D concentration in the lower tertile. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that low serum 25(OH)D concentration status is an independent predictor of short term mortality in cats

Clodronic acid in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis

Background: Clodronic acid, a first-generation bisphosphonate, has been successfully used in the treatment of high bone turnover states, Paget's disease and osteolytic bone metastases. However, controversies remain over its optimal dosage and method of administration in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. In this study we aimed to evaluate the effect of clodronic acid treatment for 3 years on bone mineral density (BMD) in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. Methods: This was a prospective, open-label, randomised, controlled study that was conducted in an outpatient clinic at the Bone Metabolism Unit of a tertiary referral centre university hospital. Thirty postmenopausal women (age range 48-73 years) with osteoporosis and a control group of 49 osteoporotic women (age range 47-74 years) received randomised therapy. The clodronic acid group of participants received oral doses of clodronic acid 800mg plus elemental calcium 500mg and 400IU of vitamin D daily, while the control group was treated with calcium and vitamin D only. BMD was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry at yearly intervals. Biochemical markers of bone turnover were also measured. Results: In this clinical study of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, 36 months of clodronic acid treatment significantly increased average femoral neck BMD by 3.2 ± 2.9%, trochanter BMD by 2.2 ± 2.9% and lumbar spine BMD by 3.1 ± 3%. In the control group, femoral neck, trochanter and lumbar spine BMD decreased by -6 ± 2.7%, -7.3 ± 2.5% and -5.4 ± 2%, respectively (p < 0.01, p < 0.05 and p < 0.05 for clodronic acid vs control, respectively). There was a significant decrease in urinary hydroxyproline (-38.3%) over 3 years in the clodronic acid group compared with baseline (p < 0.05), while no significant change occurred in the control group. Clodronic acid was well tolerated and compliance was good. There were no clinically meaningful differences in the incidence of individual adverse events between the groups. Conclusion: These results indicate that daily oral administration of clodronic acid 800mg provides benefits to skeletal bone density in osteoporotic postmenopausal women. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation alone did not prevent further bone loss. © 2007 Adis Data Information BV. All rights reserved