Morning or evening administration of nasal calcitonin? Effects on biochemical markers of bone turnover

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of intranasal salmon calcitonin (sCT) administration (200 IE), given either in the morning (8:00) or evening (21:00), on the known circadian variation in biochemical markers of bone turnover. An open, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover study, with three 24 h studies of blood samples drawn every third hour and urine collected in 3 h aliquots was undertaken. Subjects consisted of nine healthy postmenopausal women, aged 58 +/- 7 years. Urinary CrossLaps (a measure of bone resorption) was measured by ELISA and corrected for creatinine (Cr). Serum osteocalcin (sOC) was measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The first 24 h study was performed without intervention. Prior to this control study the participants were randomized to either morning (8:00) or evening (21:00) sCT (200 IE). sCT administrations were given 4-5 days prior to and during the second study. After a washing-out period of 2 weeks the participants were given 200 IE of sCT at the reverse time of the day 5 days prior to and during the third study. At all timepoints, urinary CrossLaps/Cr exhibited a significant (p < 0.001) circadian rhythm with its zenith in early morning and nadir in late afternoon. Both morning and evening administration of sCT significantly decreased the urinary excretion of CrossLaps/Cr approximately 3-6 h after administration with a subsequent rebound effect. sOC did not exhibit a significant circadian variation and was not affected by the calcitonin. The 24 h mean urinary CrossLaps/Cr and sOC remained unchanged. Both morning and evening sCT significantly decreased the urinary excretion of CrossLaps/Cr 3-6 h after administration, with a rebound effect approximately 12 h later. However, the present study does not indicate that neither evening nor twice-daily administration is superior to morning administration.