Muscle strength and bone in healthy women: effect of age and gonadal status.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this work was to examine the effects of age and menopause on muscle strength and on the muscle-bone interaction.


METHODS
One hundred ninety-four healthy women (mean age 49.8 ± 12.6 SD years) were assessed. Maximal Voluntary Contraction (MVC, Newton, N) by Hand Grip Dynamometer, bone mineral density at one third of the radius (R-BMD) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and phalangeal ultrasound by the DBM Sonic 1200 device were evaluated at the upper dominant limb. Ultrasonometric parameters considered were Amplitude-Dependent Speed of Sound (ADSoS) and Ultrasound Bone Profile Index (UBPI).


RESULTS
MVC significantly decreased with age (r²=-0.12, p<0.005). For each level of age, fertile women had a greater MVC compared to postmenopausal women (r²=0.015, p<0.005).In the whole sample, a statistically significant correlation between MVC and R-BMD (r=0.354, p<0.001) and between MVC and ADSoS (r=0.294) and UBPI (r=0.311)(p<0.001 for both) were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that age and menopausal status significantly contributed to the reduction of muscle strength. The decline of muscular strength significantly correlated with quantitative and qualitative bone features.
Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Disciplines, University of Rome Sapienza, Viale del Policlinico 155, Rome, Italy. cristianac@alice.it
Cristiana
C
Cipriani
Elisabetta
E
Romagnoli
Vincenzo
V
Carnevale
Ida
I
Raso
Addolorata
A
Scarpiello
Maurizio
M
Angelozzi
Andrea
A
Tancredi
Stefania
S
Russo
Federica
F
De Lucia
Jessica
J
Pepe
Salvatore
S
Minisola
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D053580:Muscle Strength; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D011884:Radius / Q000502:physiology