Progesterone and Bone: Actions Promoting Bone Health in Women

Table 3

Double-blind randomized controlled trials of percentage spine Bone Mineral Density (BMD) change per year in postmenopausal women treated with Progesterone/Medroxyprogesterone (MPA) compared with placebo.

Author/year and reference	Total number	Age	Bone site	Years	Drug and dose	Schedule	Number	% BMD Change (Active)	Number	% BMD Change (Placebo)
Gallagher 1991 [84]	81	$51.7\pm 4.4$	DPA*; L2$-$4	2	MPA 20 mg	23/28 days	20	Spine $-$2.5	20	Spine $-$3.8
			Radius				20	Radius 0.0	18	Radius $-$2.4
Prior 1997 [85]	33	$45\pm 5$	QCT; T12$-$L3; DXA	1	MPA 10 mg	Daily	18	QCT $-$15	${\text{NA}}^{\bullet }$	NA
			WB$+$					WB $-$2.8	NA	NA
			FN$++$					FN $-$5.2	NA	NA
Leonetti 1999 [86]	102	52.5	DXA; L2$-$4	1	* ${\text{P}}_4$ Cream 20 mg	Daily	43	Spine $-$1.4	47	Spine $-$1.0
			T Hip				43	T Hip $-$2.5	47	T Hip $-$1.0
Liu 2005 [87]	132	52.5	DXA; L2$-$4	2	^+OMP	300 mg Daily	15	Spine $-$1.0	23	Spine $-1.0$
			FN				15	FN $-0.5$	23	FN $-$0.0
					MPA	10 mg Daily	16	Spine $-$1.9	23	Spine $-$1.0
							16	FN $-$1.1	23	FN $-$0.0
Mean % Change					OMP & P4 Cream		58	Spine $-$1.2	70	Spine $-$1.0
					MPA		36	Spine $-$2.2	43	Spine $-$2.4

*P₄: progesterone
⁺OMP: oral micronized progesterone
${}_{}{}^{\bullet }\text{NA}$: not available—this trial was controlled by conjugated equine estrogen and without a placebo.