Declining adrenal androgens: an association with bone loss in aging women.
Bone loss in aging women is a major contributing factor to the onset of osteoporosis. To determine whether a decline in adrenal androgen output might be important in the loss of bone with age, we studied a highly selected group of 14 women, average age 70, and measured adrenal androgens in relationship to trabecular bone density. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels were used as a marker of adrenal sex steroid output while quantitative, computerized tomography was used to determine trabecular bone density. Our results showed that both bone density (r = -0.69, P less than 0.01) and DHEAS levels (r = -0.68, P less than 0.01) declined with age, and that DHEAS was positively correlated with bone density (r = 0.66, P = 0.01). These data emphasize the association of declining adrenal sex steroid production with declining bone density during the process of aging.
D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000728:Androgens / Q000097:blood*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000502:physiology*; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood
D000728:Androgens; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D006854:Hydrocortisone