formulation a : a suspension prepared with 1 alendronate sodium tablet ( fosamax ®) containing alendronate sodium equivalent to 70 mg alendronie acid , 1 gram ammonioalkyl methacrylate copolymer dispersion ( eudragit rl 30d ), and 50 ml of distilled water . formulation b : a suspension prepare with one alendronate sodium tablet ( fosamax ®) containing alendronate sodium equivalent to 70 mg alendronic acid , 7 ml of 0 . 1n hcl solution , 210 mg of aminoalkyl methacrylate copolymer ( eudragit e po ), and 43 ml of distilled water . formulation c : a suspension prepared with one alendronate sodium tablet ( fosamax ®) containing alendronate sodium equivalent to 70 mg alendronic acid , and 50 ml distilled water . manufacturing process includes transferring 1 . 0 g of ammonioalkyl methacrylate copolymer dispersion ( eudragit rl 30d ) to a 100 ml glass vial . add 50 . 0 ml of distilled water using a graduate cylinder to the vial and handshake the vial to obtain homogeneous polymer dispersion . place one alendronate sodium tablet containing alendronate sodium equivalent to 70 mg alendronic acid into the vial and handshake the vial until the tablet is completely disintegrated prior to dosing . manufacturing process includes transferring 210 mg of aminoalkyl methacrylate copolymer ( eudragit e po ) to a 100 ml glass vial . add 7 ml of 0 . 1n hc1 solution to dissolve aminoalkyl methacrylate copolymer ( eudragit e po ) in the vial . after the solid is completely dissolved , pour 43 ml of distilled water using a graduate cylinder into the vial and handshake the vial to obtain homogeneous polymer solution . place one alendronate sodium tablet containing alendronate sodium equivalent to 70 mg alendronic acid in the vial and handshake the vial until the tablet is completely disintegrated prior to dosing . place on alendronate sodium tablet containing alendronate sodium equivalent to 70 mg alendronic acid into a 100 ml glass vial to which 50 ml of distilled water is added . handshake the vial until the tablet is completely disintegrated prior to dosing . an open label and randomized three - way crossover study was employed to investigate the bioavailability of formulations a , b , and c , seven ( 7 ) healthy , adult , male subjects randomly received the three separate formulations in assigned periods , one per period . the formulations were separated by a washout period of at least seven ( 7 ) days . drug administration consisted of an oral single suspension dose taken on the study day of periods i , ii , and iii . each study period consisted of one ( 1 ) drug dose , and was then accompanied by 150 ml ( 5 fl . ozs ) of room temperature tap water , following an overnight fast . urine samples were obtained at hour 0 ( pre - dose ) and following the dose at hours 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , and 8 and were subsequently assayed for alendronic acid . tables 4 , 5 , and 6 summarize the quantity of alendronic acid excreted in urine for formulation a , b , and c , respectively . fig1 depicts the cumulative amount of alendronic acid excreted in urine over a period of 8 hours . of three formulations , formulation b produced the highest systemic uptake of alendronate as was evidenced the amount of alendronic acid excreted in urine . the peak amount of alendronic acid in urine was detected at hour 2 for all three formulations . total amount of alendronic acid excreted in 8 hours after the administration of formulation b was approximately 3 - 4 times greater than for formulation a and c . the higher renal excretion excretion rate and amount strongly reveals that aminoalkyl methacrylate copolymer as one of cation - bearing compounds significantly improve the absorption of bisphosphonate . the relative bioavailabilities of the three formulations are calculated based on its cumulative total amount of alendronate acid excreted in the urine . the statistical summary is listed in table 7 . as shown in table 7 , the cumulated urine excreted alendronate is significantly higher for formulation b than that of formulations a and c . the amount of alendronate excreted in urine is a reflection of its oral bioavailability the almost four - fold increase in bioavailability for formulation b indicates its dose of 70 mg is almost equivalent to given four tablets of fosamax ® 70 mg . furthermore , because of its extremely long terminal half - life of alendronate , i . e ., more than ten years , fosamax ® 70 mg is administered weekly . this is an improved product from the original product , fosamax ® 10 mg which is administered daily . both strengths of fosamax ® 10 and 70 mg are on the u . s . market . assuming the linearity of oral absorption and its efficacy applicable to formulation b , and because of its extremely long half - life , the super - bioavailability of formulation b will provide a novel product that can be administered less frequently , e . g ., monthly ( because same dose of 70 mg in formulation b will last four times longer due to its four - fold increase in bioavailability ) or annually ( if given higher dose , e . g ., at 910 mg alendronate , i . e ., ( 70 / 4 )× 52 ). another invention of this patent is it provides a convenient novel oral administration frequency , i . e ., monthly or annually , as oral dosage form . the less frequent dosing of this unique formulation b will provide convenience to the patients and increase their compliance , and therefore reduce the health cost and improve the quality of life for patients in the long run . female sprague - dawley rats ( 3 - month - old ) weighing 300 ˜ 320 gm were used for this study . rats were ovariectomized ( ovx ) bilaterally under trichloroacetaldehyde ( 200 mg / kg ) anesthesia and control rats were sham - operated ( sham ) for comparison . the animals were all kept under controlled conditions at room temperature ( 22 ± 1 ° c .) and a 12 - hr light - dark cycle . animals were fed with purina laboratory rodent diet ( pmi ; st . louis , mo .) ( 0 . 95 % calcium ) and water ad libitum . body weight of the rats was determined weekly . rats were randomly divided into 5 groups as follows . treatment ( p . o ., fasting 4 hrs before and 2 hrs after drug treatment ) dose - interval group surgery ( 1 mg / kg ) ( day ) sham - operated sham vehicle 2 ovx ovx vehicle 2 c - 2 ovx alendronate control 2 c - 7 ovx alendronate control 7 a - 7 ovx alendronate absorp . improve 7 solution a is prepared for the mice of group a - 7 . manufacturing process includes transferring 210 mg of aminoalkyl methacrylate copolymer ( eudragit e po ) to a 100 ml glass vial . add about 1 . 2 ml of 0 . 1n hc1 solution to dissolve aminoalkyl methacrylate copolymer ( eudragit e po ) in the vial . after the solid is completely dissolved , pour 35 ml of distilled water using a graduate cylinder into the vial and handshake the vial to obtain homogeneous polymer solution . 91 . 37 mg alendronate sodium trihydrate , which contains alendronate sodium equivalent to 70 mg alendronic acid , is placed in the vial and shakes the vial until the alendronate sodium trihydrate is completely disintegrated prior to dosing . vanilla 105 mg and sucralose 17 . 4 mg are added in the solution . solution c is prepared for the mice of groups c - 2 and c - 7 . manufacturing process includes transferring 91 . 37 mg alendronate sodium trihydrate , which contains alendronate sodium equivalent to 70 mg alendronic acid , is placed in the vial and shakes the vial until the alendronate sodium trihydrate is completely disintegrated prior to dosing . vanilla 105 mg and sucralose 17 . 4 mg are added in the solution . at the end of the program ( 6 weeks after ovariectomy ), the rats were sacrificed by decapitation . the tibia and femur were removed and cleaned of soft tissue , the length and weight of the tibia and femur were measured with a precision caliper (± 0 . 05 mm ) as described by weinreb et al . ( 1991 ). b md and bmc of the tibia were measured with a dual - energy x - ray absorptiometer ( dexa , xr - 26 ; norland , fort atkinson , wis .). the mode adapted to the measurements of small subjects was adopted . a coefficient of variation of 0 . 7 % was calculated from daily measurements of bmd on a lumbar phantom for more than 1 year ( yang et al ., 1998 ). the whole tibia and femur were scanned and bmd and bmc were measured by absorptiometer . tibiae were fixed by 4 % formaldehyde and then decalcified with 0 . 5n hydrochloric acid and dehydrated in an ascending series of ethanol solution and acetone , and embedded in paraffin . serial sections ( 5 mm ) were cut longitudinally and stained with mayer &# 39 ; s hematoxylin - eosin solution . images of the growth plate and proximal tibia were photographed using olympus microscope . bone volume was measured in the secondary spongiosa , which is located under the primary spongiosa and characterized by a network of larger trabeculae . bone volume was measured using image analysis software ( image - pro plus 3 . 0 ). mechanical properties of bone tissues were measured in three - point bending in a material testing system ( mts - 858 , mts system inc ., minneapolis , minn .). the span of the two support points is 20 millimeters and the deformation rate is 1 mm / min . load / deformation curves are transported to a computer and acquired by team 490 software ( version 4 . 10 , nicolet instrument technologies inc ., madison , wis .). cross - sectional parameters were measured from the photographs and used in the calculation of the cross - sectional moment of inertia . the cross - sectional moment of inertia was calculated under the assumption that the cross - sections were elliptically shaped ( turner et al ., 1992 ): where a is the width of the cross section in the mediolateral direction , b is the width of the cross section in the anteroposterior direction , and t is the average of the cortical thickness . all of these parameters are obtained using the image software image pro plus 3 . 0 for windows ( media cybernetics , silver spring , md .). the maximal stress , ultimate stress , and elastic modulus ( young &# 39 ; s modulus ) were calculated using the following equations ( turner and burr , 1993 ): where σ is ultimate stress , c is the distance from the center of mass ( equal to ½b as described above ), f is the applied load ( n ), d is the displacement ( mm ), and l is the span between the two support points of the bending fixture ( mm ). in addition , the energies to ultimate stress are also measured by computing the respective areas under the stress - strain curve . prevention of bone loss by alendronate control and alendronate absorption improvement formulation the results are organized in the table 8 , table 8 illuminates the treatment / prevention of bone loss by alendronate absorption improving formulation . rats showed decrease of wet weight in both femur and tibia after 6 weeks &# 39 ; ovariectomy . treatment with alendronate control on alternate days ( c - 2 ) or alendronate absorption improving formulation once per week ( a - 7 ) prevented the weight loss of both tibia and femur in ovx rats . fig2 illuminated the comparison of the histomorphometries of the bone of the mouse belonging to the group sham , group ovx , group a - 7 and group c - 7 . compared with sham - operated rats ( sham ), ovariectomy ( ovx ) caused a significant loss of trabecular bone . in comparison with alendronate control ( c - 7 ), once / week treatment of solution a ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ), group a - 7 is more efficient in the prevention of the loss of trabecular bone in secondary spongiosa . bar in the picture of c - 7 equals 0 . 5 mm . referring is made to fig3 a - b , fig3 a - b illuminates comparison of the effects of solution a ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ) and solution c ( alendronate control ) on the bone volume and bone mineral content ( bmc ) in ovariectomized rats . ovariectomy for 6 weeks reduced bmc , illuminated in fig3 a , and bone volume , illuminated in fig3 b in both tibia and femur . alendronate control treated on alternate days ( c - 2 ) is much more efficient to prevent bone loss induced by ovariectomy than that treatment on once / week ( c - 7 ). on the other hand , alendronate absorption improvement formulation treated on once / week ( a - 7 ) can markedly inhibit the ovx - induced decrease of bmc and bone volume . the bone volume decreases by 55 % in response to ovx . treatment with alendronate control on alternate days ( c - 2 ) completely reversed the loss of bone volume . however , when the dose interval was increased from 2 to 7 days ( c - 7 ) the protection effect was significantly decreased . however , once / week treatment with solution a . ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ) ( group a - 7 ) completely antagonized the loss of bone volume . these results suggest that solution a is more effective than solution c ( alendronate control ) to prevent the bone loss induced by qvx when treated at longer dosing intervals . we further examined the effect of alendronate on the bone mineral content ( bmc ). it was shown in fig3 a and table 8 that ovx decreased bmd and bmc in both tibia and femur . treatment with alendronate control on alternate days but not on once / week efficiently prevents the loss of bone mineral content . on the other hand , once / week treatment with solution a ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ) markedly antagonized the decrease of bmd and bmc caused by ovariectomy . effect of solution a ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ) on the biomechanical properties in ovx rats referring is made to fig4 a - b , fig4 a - b illuminates comparison of the effects of solution a ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ) and solution c ( alendronate control ) on the biomechanical properties in ovariectomized rats . ovariectomy for 6 weeks decreased young &# 39 ; s modulus , illuminated in fig4 a , and ultimate stress , illuminated in fig4 b in femur upon three - point bending test . alendronate control treated on alternate days ( c - 2 ) is much more efficient to prevent the decrease of bone strength induced by ovariectomy than that treatment on once / week ( c - 7 ). on the other hand , alendronate absorption improvement formulation treated on once / week ( a - 7 ) can efficiently inhibit the ovx - induced decrease of young &# 39 ; s modulus and ultimate stress . three - point bending test was done in the femur . compared with sham - operated group , the ultimate stress and young &# 39 ; s modulus decreased in ovx rats . treatment with alendronate on alternate days but not on once / week exhibited protection against ovx - induced decrease of bone strength . on the other hand , once / week treatment with solution a ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ) completely reversed the effect of ovx on the biomechanical properties . ovx rats have been shown to reproducibly lose bone mass from the axial and appendicular skeleton with declining levels of systemic estrogen similar to postmenopausal women ( kimmel , 1996 ). the ovx rat thus has become a useful animal model that mimics the bone loss observed for postmenopausal women . skeletal pharmacology studies in ovx rats have been predictive of clinical efficacy in postmenopausal women for bisphosphonates ( seedor et al ., 1991 ). comparing the metabolism speed between mouse and human being , the mouse is at least 4 times faster than human being . the dose in the solution c is once - weekly for human being . therefore , the dose in the solution a is adapted for a dosing schedule having a dosing interval once - monthly . here we found that ovx reduced bmd , bmc , bone volume and biomechanical properties of the long bones . alendronate control treated on alternate days but not once / week ( 1 mg / kg ) treatment efficiently prevents the bone loss . however , solution a ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ), whose oral absorption has been enhanced for several folds , can significantly prevent ovariectomy - induced bone loss even if administered once per week . therefore , solution a ( alendronate absorption improvement formulation ) may be used clinically at longer dosing intervals than alendronate control . another invention of this patent is it provides a convenient novel oral administration frequency , i . e ., quarterly or annually , as oral dosage form . the less frequent dosing of this unique solution a will provide convenience to the patients and increase their compliance , and therefore reduce the health cost and improve the quality of life for patients in the long run . the once - annually dosage provide by increasing the dose 12 folds ( e . g ., given larger volume of oral solution at higher drug concentration , it is expected to have similar efficacy because of its long half - life . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention . in view of the foregoing , it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents .
the present invention discloses a method for treating or preventing a bone disorder in a mammal in need thereof comprising orally administering to said mammal a pharmaceutically effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition of at least one bisphosphonate , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or esters thereof , and at least one aminoalky methacrylate copolymer , according to a dosing schedule having a dosing interval selected from once - weekly dosing , twice - monthly dosing , once - monthly , once - quarterly and once - annually dosing . the present invention further discloses a method for treating or preventing a bone disorder in a mammal in need thereof comprising continuously orally administering a unit dosage per - day to said mammal in a short time for a long time therapy .