Abstract
The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the relationships between circulating β2 microglobulin (β2 m) and bone mineral density (BMD), parameters of bone remodeling, vitamin D metabolites, parathyroid hormone (PTH), estradiol levels, and age in a group of 165 clinically healthy or osteoporotic, but otherwise normal untreated women. In this group of women, systemic β2 m correlated with BMD (g/cm2) levels for total hip and Ward's triangle (r =−0.298, P < 0.0001; and r =−0.299, P < 0.0001, respectively), but only at the borderline level with BMD at the spine (r =−0.145, P= 0.0604). Serum β2 microglobulin markedly correlated with age (r = 0.512, P= 0.0001). β2 m levels correlated with indices of bone remodeling, as well as with serum creatinine and estradiol levels. However, after stratification of all analyses by age, body mass index, and serum 25OHD3, 1,25(OH)2D3, PTH, or estradiol levels (using standard multiple regression and stepwise forward regression models), only 25OHD3 was found to be an independent predictor of BMD at the hip, including Ward's triangle, as estradiol of BMD at the spine. On the other hand, β2 m was not associated with BMD at any of the measured regions. Also, no association was found between serum PTH and BMD values. Therefore, systemic β2 m seems to be an indicator of bone remodeling in the course of natural skeletal aging rather than a variable independently predicting bone loss.
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Received: 21 July 1998 / Accepted: 10 June 1999
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Zofková, I., Bahbouh, R., Bendlová, B. et al. Circulating β2 Microglobulin in Relation to Bone Metabolism: Implications for Bone Loss with Aging. Calcif Tissue Int 65, 442–446 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002239900730
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002239900730