Relationship between metabolic syndrome and its components with bone densitometry in postmenopausal women

Prevention of osteoporosis and bone fracture and the relationship between metabolic syndrome and bone density are controversial issues.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome and its components with bone mineral density in post menopausal women referred for bone mineral density (BMD) test.

A total of 143 postmenopausal women with at least one year of menopause experience participated in this cross-sectional study. Demographic and anthropometric characteristics for all participants were collected. Also, biochemical parameters including fasting blood sugar, Cholesterol (HDL and LDL), triglyceride were measured. Association between the components of metabolic syndrome and bone densitometry were analyzed by statistical methods.

In this study, 72% of participants did not have metabolic syndrome. Among them, 43.4% and 28.7% had osteoporosis and normal density, respectively. Of remaining participants with metabolic syndrome, 12.6% and 15.4% had osteoporosis and normal density, respectively. Among the metabolic syndrome components, waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, and waist to hip ratio were significantly associated with bone mass (P<0.05). Osteoporotic women had lower waist circumference and waist to hip ratio and higher HDL than women without osteoporosis. On the other hand, women with metabolic syndrome did not have significant differences than women without metabolic syndrome in terms of lumbar and femoral neck density (P>0.05).

Results from this study showed that metabolic syndrome and its components did not induce bone mass loss. The discrepancies of the studies in this area call for more large scale studies in population so as to prevent women problems in this area.