The importance of urinary hydroxyproline and serumal osteocalcin in the evaluation of post-menopausal osteoporosis.
Forty-nine women aged 49 to 65 who had been in menopause for more than fifteen years were selected on the basis of densitometric data and clinical symptomatology. Twenty-four of these suffered from severe backaches and had a bone mineral content (B.M.C.) level inferior by at least three standard deviations to the average level according to the standards of our laboratory; these women were diagnosed with severe osteoporosis. The remaining twenty-five subjects were asymptomatic with a B.M.C. between one and two SD from the average; these were diagnosed with moderate asymptomatic osteopenia. A control group was formed by ten apparently healthy women of childbearing age. The women with severe osteoporosis showed a significantly lower level of serumal osteocalcin (Student t Test: P less than 0.05) than the control group, while no significant difference was observed between the latter and the women with moderate asymptomatic osteopenia. The level of hydroxyproline was significantly higher (Student t Test: P less than 0.01) in both groups of menopausal women than in the control group. This data shows that the increase in the level of urinary hydroxyproline characterizes menopause independent of the severity of bone loss. On the other hand, low levels of osteocalcin mainly appear in menopausal women who show severe skeletal demineralization. As a result, we feel that the urinary hydroxyproline/osteocalcin ratio is shown to be useful in both evaluating the risk of post-menopausal osteoporosis and monitoring it.
Gnudi
S
S
Servizio di Medicina Interna, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna.
Ripamonti
C
C
Bonini
A M
AM
Pratelli
L
L
Figus
E
E
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006909:Hydroxyproline / Q000652:urine*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015675:Osteocalcin / Q000097:blood*; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis
D015675:Osteocalcin; D006909:Hydroxyproline