Parathyroid hormone is predictive of low bone mass in Canadian aboriginal and white women

Canadian Aboriginal women have lower age- and weight-corrected bone mineral density (BMD) and lower vitamin D status than White women. This study was undertaken to describe the differences in biomarkers of bone metabolism and vitamin D in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women and to establish which biomarkers were predictive of BMD. In total, 41 rural Aboriginal, 212 urban Aboriginal and 182 urban White women were studied for BMD of the distal radius, calcaneus, lumbar spine, femoral neck, total hip and whole body using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Serum biomarkers measured included calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), C-telopeptide of type 1 collagen (CTX), osteocalcin (OC), osteoprotegerin (OPG), parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 25(OH)D. Data were analyzed for differences among the three groups stratified by age (25 to 39, 40 to 59 and 60 to 75 y) using factorial ANOVA. Predictors of BMD including ethnicity, age and body weight were identified using step-wise regression. Unadjusted BMD of all sites declined with age regardless of ethnic grouping. Prediction models for 5 of 6 BMD sites included PTH accounting for age and body weight. Other predictors of BMD included OC for the radius and calcaneus; OPG for spine and total hip; and ALP for whole body and calcaneus. Serum 25(OH)D was not included in any model of BMD. After accounting for all variables in the regression equation, an average Aboriginal woman of 46 y and 79 kg was predicted to have 6% lower calcaneus BMD and 3% lower radius BMD compared to a White woman of the same age and weight. In conclusion, PTH is a better predictor of BMD than 25(OH)D in this population of Aboriginal and White women.