title: Relative contribution of weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing effect of adipose tissue to bone mineral density in postmenopausal women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relative contributions of weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing effects of adipose tissue to bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 228 postmenopausal women aged 50-75 years. Age, years since menopause (YSM), height, body weight, and body mass index were recorded. Trunk fat mass, body fat mass, bilateral leg BMD and lean (muscle) mass were measured by whole body scanning with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The relationships of BMD to trunk and body fat mass were investigated using uni- and multivariable analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amount of trunk fat mass and body fat mass were 8.7 ± 3.6 kg and 19.0 ± 5.9 kg, respectively. On Pearson's correlation test, right leg BMD was positively correlated with trunk fat mass (r=0.268, P<0.001) and body fat mass (0.299, P<0.001). On multiple linear regression analysis, trunk fat mass (t-value = 3.500, P<0.001), age (-2.431, P<0.05), and YSM (-2.564, P<0.01) were independent significant predictors of right leg BMD. However, body fat mass was not a predictor of BMD (-0.465, P=0.642). These relationships remained significant after further adjusting for right leg muscle mass.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Trunk fat mass rather than body fat mass is a significant predictor of leg BMD at the most weight-bearing site, despite being less than half the amount of body fat mass. Thus, adipose tissue contributes more to BMD through non-weight-bearing effect rather than weight-bearing effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yanazume
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuwahata
authors.forename: Yukie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yonehara
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Douchi
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000368:Aged; D015519:Bone Density; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007867:Leg Bones / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D016474:Weight-Bearing