Is continuous intranasal salmon calcitonin effective in treating axial bone loss in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis receiving low dose glucocorticoid therapy?

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of intranasal salmon calcitonin (sCT) in treating axial bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) taking low dose glucocorticoids.

Methods: In this open, multicenter study 32 women with RA were treated one year with sCT 100 IU/day and calcium (Ca) 500 mg/day; 31 women were treated with Ca alone. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at the lumbar spine and proximal femur (femoral neck, Ward's triangle, trochanter) before sCT therapy and again after 6 and 12 months.