Effect of menopause on bone metabolism indices and bone mineral density - Study of the usefulness of bone metabolism indices

Change in bone metabolism is one of the factors related to bone volume decrease, with bone volume decrease becoming remarkable for a period of ten years after menopause. Using female subjects with known dates of menopause but without past histories affecting bone mineral density, the present study was conducted to examine the effect of menopause on bone metabolism indices and bone mineral density, and also to determine the usefulness of various bone metabolism indices such as urine pyridinoline, deoxypyridinoline, and N-telopeptides of type 1 collagen. The values of these bone metabolism indices following menopause were higher than those prior to menopause, and the values of N-telopeptides of type 1 collagen showed the closest correlation to body mineral density of the lumbar vertebrae and the femur. This is because N-telopeptides of type 1 collagen have high bone specificity. It is therefore considered that N-telopeptides of type 1 collagen is the most useful as a bone metabolism index.