The key difference between alendronate and ibandronate is that according to many clinical guidelines, alendronate is recommended over ibandronate; the success rate of the treatment using alendronate is 93.8%, while for ibandronate, it is 89.7%.
Alendronate and ibandronate are two important bisphosphonate medications useful in treating osteoporosis and related conditions.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Alendronate
3. What is Ibandronate
4. Alendronate vs Ibandronate in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Alendronate vs Ibandronate
What is Alendronate?
Alendronate or alendronic acid is a bisphosphonate medication useful in treating osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of bone. The brand name of this medication is Fosamax. This medication is administered orally; it is usually recommended to be used along with vitamin D, calcium supplementation, and lifestyle changes as well.
Figure 01: The Chemical Structure of Alendronate
The common side effects of this medication include constipation, abdominal pain, nausea, and acid reflux. Moreover, it is not recommended to be used during pregnancy or when someone has poor kidney function. Besides, this medication works by decreasing the activity of cells that can break down bones.
The bioavailability of alendronate is 0.6%, and when considering the metabolism, it is excreted through the kidney unchanged. The elimination half-life of this medication is about 126 months. The chemical formula of alendronate is C4H13NO7P2. The molar mass of this compound is 249.096 g/mol.
There can be some interactions of this medication with some conditions in our body: food and drugs consisting of large content of calcium, magnesium, or aluminum can decrease the absorption of alendronate. Moreover, concomitant treatment should be avoided. Further, intravenous ranitidine can increase the oral bioavailability of alendronate.
What is Ibandronate?
Ibandronate or ibandronic acid is a bisphosphonate medication useful in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and metastasis-associated skeletal fractures in people having cancers. We can also use it to treat hypercalcemia. Typically, this medication is formulated as the sodium salt named ibandronate sodium. The brand name of this medication is Boniva.
Figure 02: The Chemical Formula of Ibandronate
The bioavailability of ibandronate is 0.6%, and the protein binding ability ranges from 90.9 – 99.5%. The metabolism is given as “Nil” in experimental evidence, and the elimination half-life is given as 10 – 60 hours. The excretion occurs through the kidney. The chemical formula of ibandronate is C9H23NO7P2. The molar mass of this compound is 319.231 g/mol.
There can be some side effects of using ibandronate, such as incapacitating bone, joint, or muscle pain, rare but serious fractures of the femur, osteonecrosis of the jaw, etc.
What is the Difference Between Alendronate and Ibandronate?
Alendronate and ibandronate are two important bisphosphonate medications useful in treating osteoporosis and related conditions. The key difference between alendronate and ibandronate is that according to many clinical guidelines, alendronate is recommended over ibandronate. This is because the success rate of the treatment using alendronate is 93.8%, while for ibandronate, it is 89.7%. Further, the cost of treatment for alendronate is low, whereas it is high for ibandronate.
The below infographic presents the differences between alendronate and ibandronate in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Alendronate vs Ibandronate
Alendronate or alendronic acid is a bisphosphonate medication useful in treating osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of bone. Ibandronate or ibandronic acid is a bisphosphonate medication useful in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and metastasis-associated skeletal fractures in people having cancers. According to many clinical guidelines, alendronate is recommended over ibandronate since alendronate has a higher success rate of the treatment (93.8%) than ibandronate (89.7%). So, this is the key difference between alendronate and ibandronate.
Reference:
1. “Alendronate.” Medline Plus.
2. “Boniva (ibandronate) dosing, indications, interactions.” Reference. Medscape.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Alendronic acid” By Yikrazuul (talk) – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Ibandronic acid” By Fvasconcellos – self-made by Fvasconcellos. (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia