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The impact of thyroid function on total spine bone mineral density in postmenopausal women

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Abstract

Purpose

Osteoporosis has been a widespread concern for older women, especially postmenopausal women. Thyroid function is crucial for bone metabolism. However, the relationship between thyroid function variation within thyroxine reference range and bone mineral density (BMD) remains ambiguous. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of subclinical hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism on total spinal BMD in postmenopausal women.

Methods

Based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2010, multivariable weighted logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationships between total spine BMD and TSH among postmenopausal women aged ≥50.

Results

After accounting for a number of variables, this study discovered that the middle TSH tertile was associated with a decreased probability of osteoporosis. Additionally, the subgroup analysis revealed that postmenopausal women over the age of 65 or people with an overweight BMI had a clearer relationship between total spine BMD and TSH.

Conclusion

The total spinal BMD had a positive relationship with thyroid stimulating hormone in postmenopausal women, and that appropriate TSH level (1.38–2.32 mIU/L) was accompanied by higher total spinal BMD.

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Data availability

The survey data are publicly available on the internet for data users and researchers throughout the world (www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/).

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Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by J.J., Z.L., L.X., H.X., T.W., T.Y., Y.T., and T.M. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JJ and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Yangpu Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200090, China

    Jiazhong Ji, Zhaoyang Li, Long Xue, Huaming Xue, Tao Wen, Tao Yang, Tong Ma & Yihui Tu

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  1. Jiazhong Ji
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Correspondence to Tong Ma or Yihui Tu.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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The ethics review board of the National Center for Health Statistics approved all NHANES protocols.

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Ji, J., Li, Z., Xue, L. et al. The impact of thyroid function on total spine bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. Endocrine (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-024-03712-8

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