Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis may be associated with high endothelin-1.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to find out if there was any difference of the endothelin-1 (ET-1) and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels between osteoporotic and non-osteoporotic healthy postmenopausal women and whether there were any associations between ET-1 and ADMA levels and bone mineral density (BMD).


METHODS
A total of 75 healthy postmenopausal women were enrolled in the study. BMD was measured at lumbar spine (LS) and femur neck (FN). Serum ET-1 and ADMA levels were measured by ELISA. In this population, 41 (54%) women had BMD t-scores > or = 2.5 at the LS and/or FN defined as osteoporosis and 34 (46%) of them had normal BMDs (non-osteoporotic group).


RESULTS
The mean value of ET-1 serum level in patients was 0.42 +/- 0.30, 0.28 +/- 0.12 fmol/ml in osteoporotic and non-osteoporotic groups, respectively (p = 0.018). In non-osteoporotic group, there was an only significant positive correlation was found between BMD (g/cm(2)) and total t-scores at the lumbar region and ET-1 level. In osteoporotic group, no correlation was found between BMD and total t-scores and ET-1 levels. Serum ADMA level was not significantly different between osteoporotic and non-osteoporotic postmenopausal women (p > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
ET-1 may be a physiologic regulator in non-osteoporotic healthy postmenopausal women. Osteoporotic postmenopausal women had higher ET-1 levels than non-osteoporotic postmenopausal women. ADMA seems not to have effect on bone in postmenopausal women.
Gulhan
Ibrahim
I
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Izmir Research and Training Hospital, Bozyaka, Izmir 35360, Turkey. drigulhan@yahoo.com
Kebapcilar
Levent
L
Alacacioglu
Ahmet
A
Bilgili
Sibel
S
Kume
Tuncay
T
Aytac
Bilal
B
Gunaydin
Rezzan
R
D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000097:blood*; D012044:Regression Analysis
D019332:Endothelin-1; C018524:N,N-dimethylarginine; D001120:Arginine