Age, steroids and bone mineral content

The possible existence of correlations between bone mineral content (BMC), age and serum levels of steroid hormones was investigated. It was found that dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S), oestradiol (E 2) and delta-4-androstenedione (A) were correlated with BMC, whereas oestrone (E 1) and testosterone (T) were not. Partial correlations after adjustment for age were significant ( P < 0.05) only between E 2 and DHEA-S and BMC at the L2–L4 lumbar site (BMC-1) and between DHEA-S ( P < 0.01) and BMC at the midradius site (BMC-r). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that, apart from age, E 2 was the only factor to fit ( P < 0.05) into the mathematical model with BMC-1 as the dependent variable, while DHEA-S was the only factor to fit ( P < 0.01) with BMC-r as the dependent variable. These data suggest that different hormonal influences are related to BMC at different sites, namely E 2 to lumbar trabecular bone (L2-L4) and DHEA-S to cortical bone (midradius).