Ovarian hormone status, life-style factors, and markers of bone metabolism in women aged 50 years

Fifty-year-old women (n = 519) attending a health examination were divided by their ovarian hormone status into four groups: premenopausal, perimenopausal, postmenopausal without ovarian hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and postmenopausal with HRT. Information on lifestyle factors was obtained with interviews and questionnaires. Bone mineral density at the calcaneus was assessed with single-photon absorptiometry, and several serum and urine markers of bone metabolism were measured. Postmenopausal women without HRT had significantly higher levels of fasting serum alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, total and ionized calcium, phosphate, and fasting urinary hydroxyproline than those in the three other study groups. No difference was found in bone mineral density between the premenopausal and postmenopausal groups. Postmenopausal women without HRT showed a marked correlation between serum osteocalcin and urine hydroxyproline. Both markers showed significant correlations with serum calcium, phosphate, and alkaline phosphatase. Multivariate analyses showed a statistically significant association of ovarian hormone status and body mass index with most measured markers of bone metabolism. The association between alcohol consumption and serum osteocalcin was highly significant. Cigarette smoking was associated with levels of serum alkaline phosphatase and total and ionized calcium. A weak association was found between coffee drinking and serum alkaline phosphatase.