Relationship of C-reactive protein and bone mineral density in community-dwelling elderly females.
OBJECTIVE
Inflammatory cytokines have been shown to play an important role in bone remodeling. We hypothesized that higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly females.


METHODS
Secondary data analysis of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.


METHODS
2,807 females 65 years and older.


RESULTS
CRP was associated with BMD in the bivariate sis (p<0.001) but not in the multivariate analysis (p=0.23) Age, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and immobility were independently associated with BMD.


CONCLUSIONS
CRP may be useful in screening for osteoporosis among community-dwelling elderly females. However, CRP appears to act as a surrogate for other factorsdirectly associated with osteoporosis. Further studies are needed to validate these findings.
Ganesan
Kalpana
K
Divisions of General Internal Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA. kaganesa@cdrewu.edu
Teklehaimanot
Senait
S
Tran
The-Huy
TH
Asuncion
Merlyn
M
Norris
Keith
K
D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis
D002097:C-Reactive Protein