Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Associations of Copper Intake with Bone Mineral Density and Osteoporosis in Adults: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Biological Trace Element Research volume 200, pages 2062–2068 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Some studies have suggested an association between serum copper and bone density. Few studies have explored the association between copper intake and osteoporosis and bone mineral density (BMD). Our research aims to assess the associations of copper intake with the risk of osteoporosis in United States adults using the National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES). A total of 8224 individuals were included in our study. Osteoporosis was defined that BMD values surpass 2.5 standard deviations (SD) below the mean of the young adult reference group. Copper intake from diets and supplements was estimated by using two 24-h recall surveys. After adjustment for all the covariates of interest, the odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence interval (CI)) between the risk of osteoporosis and total copper intake across quartiles 3 and 4 compared with quartile 1 were 0.48 (0.31–0.74) (P < 0.01) and 0.41 (0.26–0.65) (P < 0.01), respectively. The mean total femur BMD and total spine BMD of the highest dietary copper intake quartile (Cu 1.51 mg/d) was 0.03 g/cm2 and 0.02 g/cm2 greater than the lowest quartile. Our results indicate that dietary and total copper intake was positively associated with increasing BMD in US adults and negatively associated with the risk of osteoporosis in US adults.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

Data Availability

The data of this study will be made available on reasonable request.

Code Availability

The code of this study will be made available on reasonable request.

References

  1. Hendrickx G, Boudin E, Van Hul W (2015) A look behind the scenes: the risk and pathogenesis of primary osteoporosis. Nat Rev Rheumatol 11(8):462–474. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2015.48

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Wade SW, Strader C, Fitzpatrick LA, Anthony MS, O’Malley CD (2014) Estimating prevalence of osteoporosis: examples from industrialized countries. Arch Osteoporos 9:182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-014-0182-3

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Willson T, Nelson SD, Newbold J, Nelson RE, LaFleur J (2015) The clinical epidemiology of male osteoporosis: a review of the recent literature. Clin Epidemiol 7:65–76. https://doi.org/10.2147/clep.S40966

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Lunde A, Tell GS, Pedersen AB, Scheike TH, Apalset EM, Ehrenstein V et al (2019) The role of comorbidity in mortality after hip fracture: a nationwide Norwegian study of 38,126 women with hip fracture matched to a general-population comparison cohort. Am J Epidemiol 188(2):398–407. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwy251

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Chang J, Yu D, Ji J, Wang N, Yu S, Yu B (2020) The association between the concentration of serum magnesium and postmenopausal osteoporosis. Front Med 7:381. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2020.00381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhang H, Wang A, Shen G, Wang X, Liu G, Yang F et al (2021) Hepcidin-induced reduction in iron content and PGC-1β expression negatively regulates osteoclast differentiation to play a protective role in postmenopausal osteoporosis. Aging 13(8):11296–314. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.202817

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Ceylan MN, Akdas S, Yazihan N (2021) Is zinc an important trace element on bone-related diseases and complications? A meta-analysis and systematic review from serum level, dietary intake, and supplementation aspects. Biol Trace Elem Res 199(2):535–549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02193-w

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Scheiber I, Dringen R, Mercer JF (2013) Copper: effects of deficiency and overload. Met Ions Life Sci 13:359–387. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7500-8_11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bost M, Houdart S, Oberli M, Kalonji E, Huneau JF, Margaritis I (2016) Dietary copper and human health: current evidence and unresolved issues. J Trace Elem Med Biol 35:107–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2016.02.006

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Chaudhri MA, Kemmler W, Harsch I, Watling RJ (2009) Plasma copper and bone mineral density in osteopenia: an indicator of bone mineral density in osteopenic females. Biol Trace Elem Res 129(1–3):94–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-008-8299-0

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Mahdavi-Roshan M, Ebrahimi M, Ebrahimi A (2015) Copper, magnesium, zinc and calcium status in osteopenic and osteoporotic post-menopausal women. Clin Cases Miner Bone Metab 12(1):18–21. https://doi.org/10.11138/ccmbm/2015.12.1.01

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Qu X, He Z, Qiao H, Zhai Z, Mao Z, Yu Z et al (2018) Serum copper levels are associated with bone mineral density and total fracture. J Orthop Translat 14:34–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jot.2018.05.001

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Sadeghi N, Oveisi MR, Jannat B, Hajimahmoodi M, Behzad M, Behfar A et al (2014) The relationship between bone health and plasma zinc, copper lead and cadmium concentration in osteoporotic women. J Environ Health Sci Eng 12(1):125. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40201-014-0125-3

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Roughead ZK, Lukaski HC (2003) Inadequate copper intake reduces serum insulin-like growth factor-I and bone strength in growing rats fed graded amounts of copper and zinc. J Nutr 133(2):442–448. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/133.2.442

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Looker AC, Orwoll ES, Johnston CC Jr, Lindsay RL, Wahner HW, Dunn WL et al (1997) Prevalence of low femoral bone density in older U S adults from NHANES III. J Bone Min Res 12(11):1761–8. https://doi.org/10.1359/jbmr.1997.12.11.1761

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Cai S, Fan J, Zhu L, Ye J, Rao X, Fan C et al (2020) Bone mineral density and osteoporosis in relation to all-cause and cause-specific mortality in NHANES: a population-based cohort study. Bone 141:115597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2020.115597

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Arikan DC, Coskun A, Ozer A, Kilinc M, Atalay F, Arikan T (2011) Plasma selenium, zinc, copper and lipid levels in postmenopausal Turkish women and their relation with osteoporosis. Biol Trace Elem Res 144(1–3):407–417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-011-9109-7

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Opsahl W, Zeronian H, Ellison M, Lewis D, Rucker RB, Riggins RS (1982) Role of copper in collagen cross-linking and its influence on selected mechanical properties of chick bone and tendon. J Nutr 112(4):708–716. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/112.4.708

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Rucker RB, Kosonen T, Clegg MS, Mitchell AE, Rucker BR, Uriu-Hare JY et al (1998) Copper, lysyl oxidase, and extracellular matrix protein cross-linking. Am J Clin Nutr 67(5 Suppl):996s–1002s. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/67.5.996S

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Dahl SL, Rucker RB, Niklason LE (2005) Effects of copper and cross-linking on the extracellular matrix of tissue-engineered arteries. Cell Transplant 14(6):367–374. https://doi.org/10.3727/000000005783982936

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Li S, Wang M, Chen X, Li SF, Li-Ling J, Xie HQ (2014) Inhibition of osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells by copper supplementation. Cell Prolif 47(1):81–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpr.12083

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for sharing the data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, People’s Republic of China

    Yonggang Fan, Shuangfei Ni & Huafeng Zhang

Authors
  1. Yonggang Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shuangfei Ni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Huafeng Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

H.F. Zhang and Y.G. Fan contributed to the conception of the study; S.F. Ni contributed significantly to analysis and manuscript preparation; H.F. Zhang, Y.G. Fan, and S.F. Ni performed the data analyses and wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huafeng Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

NHANES was approved by the National Center for Health Statistics Research Ethics Review Board.

Consent to Participate

Not applicable.

Consent for Publication

Not applicable.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Shuangfei Ni and Huafeng Zhang jointly supervised this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fan, Y., Ni, S. & Zhang, H. Associations of Copper Intake with Bone Mineral Density and Osteoporosis in Adults: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey . Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 2062–2068 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02845-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02845-5

Keywords

search

Navigation