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Sexual differences in bone markers and bone mineral density of normal Chinese

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Abstract

We measured bone mineral density (BMD) at lumbar (L2–L4) vertebrae and proximal femurs of 385 healthy Chinese women aged 40–70 years and 156 healthy Chinese men aged 20–85, and four markers—bone alkaline phosphatase isozyme (BAP), procollagen-I C terminal propeptide (PICP), osteocalcin (BGP) in serum, and a bone resorption marker, urinary cross-linked N-telopeptide of type I collagen (NTX), of these subjects. The results indicate that in postmenopausal women, levels of all the markers increased with age. In men, serum BAP, PICP, and urinary NTX decreased significantly, and serum BGP decreased with borderline significance (P=0.08). With increasing age, bone density decreased at both sites in post-menopausal women and at the proximal femur in men. The lumbar bone density showed no significant age-related changes in men. In premenopausal women, BMD at either site showed no significant change with increasing age. Despite the different trends between men and women of agerelated changes in BMD and bone markers, bone density of both proximal femur and spine in both sexes correlated inversely with levels of the bone markers in a manner independent of age or body weight. The meaning of opposite age effects on bone markers in men and women needs further investigation. In addition, higher bone marker levels, implying faster bone turnover rate, are associated with lower BMD in both sexes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, #7, Chung-Shan South Road, 100, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    K. S. Tsai, S. H. J. Hsu, W. C. Cheng & C. K. Chen

  2. Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    W. H. Pan

  3. Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    P. U. Chieng

  4. Department of Orthopedics, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    R. S. Yang

  5. Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    S. T. Twu

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  1. K. S. Tsai
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  2. W. H. Pan
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  3. S. H. J. Hsu
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  4. W. C. Cheng
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  5. C. K. Chen
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  6. P. U. Chieng
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  7. R. S. Yang
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  8. S. T. Twu
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Tsai, K.S., Pan, W.H., Hsu, S.H.J. et al. Sexual differences in bone markers and bone mineral density of normal Chinese. Calcif Tissue Int 59, 454–460 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369210

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369210

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