Evaluation of the relationship between homocysteine levels and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Objective

The current study aimed to evaluate the relationship between homocysteine (Hcy) levels and bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women.

Methods

The present, cross-sectional study included 760 postmenopausal women. The following variables were recorded: age, age at menopause, body mass index (BMI), BMD (measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry [DXA] scanning and expressed as lumbar, femoral neck and total hip T-scores), smoking status, biochemical parameters (Hcy, creatinine, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D and parathormone levels) and vitamin D supplementation.

Results

The mean age of the sample population was 56.4 ± 5.77 years and the mean age at menopause was 49.9 ± 3.62 years. The mean BMI was 25.2 ± 4.49 kg/m². In the current study, a comparison of the subjects with osteoporosis, osteopenia and normal BMD revealed that the subjects in the low BMD group were significantly older (p < 0.001), had a lower age at menopause (p < 0.001) and had lower BMI (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference among the groups with regard to the plasma levels of Hcy (p = 0.946). The levels of Hcy were positively correlated to the creatinine levels (r = 0.21). The present study did not observe any significant correlations between the Hcy levels and other parameters.

Conclusions

In the present study, 15.3% of the subjects had hyperhomocysteinemia and 62.11% had low BMD. The current results obtained from a group of postmenopausal women suggest that the plasma levels of Hcy are not related to BMD in the lumbar spine (L1–L4), femoral neck and total hip. In the current study, age, age at menopause and low BMI were observed to be associated with low BMD.

绝经后妇女同型半胱氨酸水平与骨密度关系的评估 摘要

目的:本研究旨在评价绝经后妇女同型半胱氨酸(Hcy)水平与骨密度(BMD)之间的关系。

方法:目前的横断面研究包括760名绝经后女性。记录患者的年龄, 绝经年龄, 体重指数(BMI), 骨密度(通过双能X线骨密度仪[DXA]扫描测量并表示为腰椎, 股骨颈和全髋关节的T值), 吸烟状况, 生化参数(Hcy, 肌酐, 钙, 磷, 维生素D和甲状旁腺激素水平)和维生素D补充。

结果:样本人群的平均年龄为56.4±5.77岁, 绝经平均年龄为49.9±3.62岁。平均BMI为25.2±4.49 kg/m2。在当前的研究中, 通过对骨质疏松、骨量减少和正常骨密度的受试者进行比较, 发现低骨量组受试者明显年龄较大(p < 0.001), 绝经年龄较低(p < 0.001)和BMI较低 (p < 0.001)。各组血浆Hcy水平比较, 差异无统计学意义(p = 0.946)。Hcy水平与肌酐水平呈正相关(r = 0.21)。本研究未观察到Hcy水平与其他参数之间的任何显著相关性。

结论:在本研究中, 15.3%的受试者有高同型半胱氨酸血症, 62.11%的受试者有低骨量。目前从一组绝经后妇女获得的结果表明, 血浆Hcy水平与腰椎(L1-L4)、股骨颈和全髋关节的BMD无关。在目前的研究中, 年龄、绝经年龄和低BMI被发现与低骨量相关。

Keywords:

• Homocysteine
• bone mineral density
• postmenopause

Acknowledgements

This study has been carried out under the auspices of the Professorship in Obstetrics and Gynecological Research at the Hospital Universitario Dexeus, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

Potential conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Source of funding

Nil.

Data availability statement

No linked research data sets are associated with this article. Data will be made available on request.