OC counters bone loss in anorexic teenagers.(Gynecology)

LOS ANGELES -- The oral contraceptive Ortho Tri-Cyclen may help teenaged girls with anorexia nervosa build bone mass as a defense against osteoporosis later in life.

Compared with placebo, it produced significantly greater increases in mean bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine during a 123-patient, double-blind, randomized trial reported at the annual meeting of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation.

This advantage was significant in 88 teens who completed the 13-cycle trial, but did not endure beyond 6 months in 112 girls who made up an intent-to-treat population. Increases in hip BMD were not significantly different at 6 months or 1 year.

"Treatment of adolescent females with anorexia nervosa may improve lumbar spine but not total hip [BMD] in subjects treated for at least 12 cycles," investigator Andrew Friedman, M.D., concluded.

Dr. Friedman is senior director of clinical research at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Raritan, N.J., which sponsored the study. A subsidiary, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc., manufactures Ortho Tri-Cyclen.

Although no other oral contraceptives were tested, Dr. Friedman acknowledged that some might offer a similar benefit for this population.

In the intent-to-treat population, average lumbar spine BMD increased 2.4% at 6 months for girls on Ortho Tri-Cyclen, but only 1% for the placebo group.