Are Antiresorptive Drugs Effective Against Fractures in Patients with Diabetes?

We studied whether the reduction in bone turnover by use of antiresorptive drugs is detrimental in patients with diabetes who already have low bone turnover due to hyperglycemia in a nationwide cohort study from Denmark. All users of antiresorptive drugs against osteoporosis between 1996 and 2006 (n = 103,562) were the exposed group, with three age- and gender-matched controls from the general population (n = 310,683). Patients on bisphosphonates and raloxifene had a higher risk of hip, spine, and forearm fractures. However, no difference was observed in the antifracture efficacy between patients with diabetes and nondiabetic controls or between patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Too few were users of strontium to allow analysis for this compound. The excess risk of fractures among patients treated with bisphosphonates or raloxifene compared to nonexposed controls was due to the higher a priori risk of fractures among patients treated for osteoporosis. Diabetes does not seem to affect the fracture-preventive potential of bisphosphonates or raloxifene. The low-turnover state of diabetes thus does not seem to be a hindrance to the effect of these drugs against osteoporosis. Therefore, patients with diabetes should receive treatment for osteoporosis in the same way as nondiabetic patients.