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Trabecular bone deficits among Vietnamese immigrants

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Abstract

Summary

Compared to white women, lower areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in middle-aged Vietnamese immigrants is due to reduced trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), which in turn is associated with greater trabecular separation along with lower estrogen levels.

Introduction

The epidemiology of osteoporosis in Asian populations is still poorly known, but we previously found a deficit in lumbar spine aBMD among postmenopausal Southeast Asian women, compared to white women, that persisted after correction for bone size. This issue was revisited using more sophisticated imaging techniques.

Methods

Twenty Vietnamese immigrants (age, 44–79 years) were compared to 162 same-aged white women with respect to aBMD at the hip, spine and wrist, vBMD at the hip and spine by quantitative computed tomography and vBMD and bone microstructure at the ultradistal radius by high-resolution pQCT. Bone turnover and sex steroid levels were assessed in a subset (20 Vietnamese and 40 white women).

Results

The aBMD was lower at all sites among the Vietnamese women, but femoral neck vBMD did not differ from middle-aged white women. Significant differences in lumbar spine and ultradistal radius vBMD in the Vietnamese immigrants were due to lower trabecular vBMD, which was associated with increased trabecular separation. Bone resorption was elevated and bone formation depressed among the Vietnamese immigrants, although trends were not statistically significant. Serum estradiol was positively associated with trabecular vBMD in the Vietnamese women, but their estrogen levels were dramatically lower compared to white women.

Conclusions

Although reported discrepancies in aBMD among Asian women are mainly an artifact of smaller bone size, we identified a specific deficit in the trabecular bone among a sample of Vietnamese immigrants that may be related to low estrogen levels and which needs further study.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Nga Edmonson for the help in recruiting study subjects; Margaret Holets, Catherine Dvorak, R.N. and Cristina Martinez, M.P.H. for their help with data collection and coordinating study logistics; and Mary Roberts for the help in preparing the manuscript.

Funding sources

This work was supported by research grants R01-AR027065 and UL1-RR24150 (Center for Translational Sciences Activities), National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service.

Conflicts of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street Southwest, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    L. J. Melton III

  2. The Office for Diversity in Clinical Research, Center for Translational Science Activities, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    M. A. Marquez

  3. Endocrine Research Unit, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    L. K. McCready, B. L. Riggs & S. Khosla

  4. Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    S. J. Achenbach

  5. Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    S. Amin

Authors
  1. L. J. Melton III
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  2. M. A. Marquez
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  3. L. K. McCready
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  4. S. J. Achenbach
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  5. B. L. Riggs
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  6. S. Amin
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  7. S. Khosla
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. J. Melton III.

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Melton, L.J., Marquez, M.A., McCready, L.K. et al. Trabecular bone deficits among Vietnamese immigrants. Osteoporos Int 22, 1627–1631 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-010-1351-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-010-1351-x

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