부산대학교 도서관

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2006.10.008 Byline: M. Baines, M.-B. Kredan, J. Usher, A. Davison, G. Higgins, W. Taylor, C. West, W.D. Fraser, L.R. Ranganath Keywords: Bone mineral density; Homocysteine; Folate; Smoking; MTHFR genotype Abstract: We studied the association between plasma total homocysteine (tHcy), its determinants folate, vitamin B.sub.12, vitamin B.sub.6 and MTHFR genotype, and bone mineral density (BMD) in 328 postmenopausal British women. When the subjects were assigned to one of 3 groups (control, osteopenic or osteoporotic) according to their BMD at the os calcis, those in the osteoporotic group had, compared with the controls, a significantly lower serum folate concentration, a significantly higher % of current smokers and a significantly higher incidence of recent fracture. In the population as a whole, we found significant associations of BMD with tHcy (r =-0.130, p =0.033, log tHcy) and folate (r =0.132, p =0.025, log folate). The association of folate with BMD was maintained after correction for age, weight and height (r =0.124, p =0.042, log folate), but the association of tHcy with BMD weakened after correction for age, weight, height and creatinine (r =-0.117, p =0.059, log tHcy).Vitamins B.sub.12 and B.sub.6 were not associated with BMD, but were significantly associated with tHcy, vitamin B.sub.12 (r =-0.34, p We conclude that low serum folate is a significant risk factor for osteoporosis, with plasma tHcy having a lesser effect. Both vitamins B.sub.12 and B.sub.6, by acting through tHcy, may also have an effect on the skeleton, albeit a weaker one than folate. Cigarette smoking is a strong determinant of BMD, and may act through effects on folate and vitamin B.sub.6. Author Affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Metabolic Medicine, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, L7 8XP, UK Article History: Received 14 July 2006; Revised 8 September 2006; Accepted 1 October 2006