title: Relationships between bone and skin atrophies during aging.
abstract: Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured in 133 female subjects (age: 61.7 +/- 16.3 years) by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Vertebral bone mineral density (BMD; L1-L4) and BMD of the whole upper femoral extremity were taken into account. In addition, skinfold thickness was measured with a callipers on the dorsum of the nondominant hand. A significant negative correlation was found between skinfold thickness and age (r = -0.623, p less than 0.0001). Both vertebral and femoral BMD decreased with age and the slopes were similar to those observed by other authors. Skinfold thickness was significantly correlated with vertebral (r = 0.364, p less than 0.0001) and femoral BMD (r = 0.486, p less than 0.0001). Skin and bone are connective tissues whose extracellular matrix mainly contains type I collagen. It is postulated that age-related skin atrophy and bone atrophy have a common genetic mechanism. Skinfold thickness measurement may help in defining the women at risk for osteoporotic bone fractures who should be referred for a DEXA examination.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie du Tissu Osseux, Faculté de Médecine, Saint-Etienne, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chappard
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alexandre
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Robert
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riffat
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D015519:Bone Density; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D012885:Skinfold Thickness