RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Despite the benefits related to the use of bisphosphonates and denosumab, medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a serious complication. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of 4 biochemical markers including serum c-terminal telopeptide cross-link of type I collagen (s-CTX), serum osteocalcin (s-OC), serum parathormon (s-PTH), and serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (s-BAP) as useful clinical tools to help assess the risk for MRONJ prior to invasive oral surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients diagnosed with MRONJ and 20 controls who have been on antiresorptive therapies with no occurrence of MRONJ were included in this 2-arm cross-sectional study. The s-CTX, s-OC, s-PTH, and s-BAP values were measured. Mann-Whitney U test compared the s-CTX, s-OC, s-PTH, and s-BAP values of the MRONJ group and the controls (Pâ<â0.05). RESULTS: Lower values were observed in the MRONJ group compared with the control group for s-CTX (130.00âpg/mL versus 230.0âpg/mL; Pâ=â0.12) and for s-OC (10.6âng/mL versus 14.80âng/mL; Pâ=â0.051) both without significance and for s-BAP (0.23âµkat/L versus 0.31âµkat/L; Pâ=â0.002) with significance. By contrast, the median s-PTH value of the MRONJ group was higher (30.65âng/L versus 25.50âng/L; Pâ=â0.89), but without significance. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of the 4 biochemical markers showed that only the value of s-BAP was significantly decreased in the MRONJ patients compared with the controls. Presently, because of the lack of evidence, a routine check prior to oral surgery for the risk assessment of MRONJ cannot be recommended.