title: Vitamin B(12) and folic acid levels as therapeutic target in preserving bone mineral density (BMD) of older men.
abstract: The knowledge about vitamin B(12) and folic acid levels in preserving bone mass in older men is limited. In this retrospective study, we aimed to find out whether levels of vitamin B(12) and folic acid are related to BMD in older men. Two hundred and sixty-nine older men were included in the study. Forty-two (15.6%) of them had osteoporotic, 150 (55.8%) had osteopenic, and 77 (28.6%) had normal BMD. Vitamin B(12) and folic acid levels were categorized as indicating normal, borderline, or low vitamin statuses. Femur neck densities showed statistically significant differences in subjects having low, borderline, and normal vitamin B(12), respectively. There were no significant differences between the three tertiles of vitamin B(12) in femur total, trochanteric, and intertrochanteric densities. After adjustment for age, body mass index (BMI), alcohol, smoking, and exercise with analysis of covariance, the difference was still statistically significant between two groups for femur neck density (p=0.011). No significant difference was observed between the groups of folic acid in any femur sites. We found that the normal level of vitamin B(12) in older men may be related to a decrease of femur neck bone loss.
authors: Gulhane Medical Faculty Training Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Etlik Street, 06018 Ankara, Turkey. inaharci@gata.edu.tr
authors: Ilkin
authors: I
authors: Naharci
authors: Ergun
authors: E
authors: Bozoglu
authors: Nuri
authors: N
authors: Karadurmus
authors: Ozdes
authors: O
authors: Emer
authors: Necmettin
authors: N
authors: Kocak
authors: Selim
authors: S
authors: Kilic
authors: Huseyin
authors: H
authors: Doruk
authors: Muhittin
authors: M
authors: Serdar
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015519:Bone Density; D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D015444:Exercise; D005269:Femur / Q000503:physiopathology; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid; D014805:Vitamin B 12