title: A cross-sectional study to examine the correlation between serum TSH levels and the osteoporosis of the lumbar spine in healthy women with normal thyroid function.
abstract: We examined the association between serum TSH levels and osteoporosis of the lumbar spine in 756 Korean women aged 65 years or older with normal thyroid function. Low-normal serum TSH levels might be a potential risk factor for the osteoporosis in non-obese elderly women.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  We aimed to examine the association between serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and osteoporosis of the lumbar spine in healthy elderly Korean women with normal thyroid function.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the correlations between serum TSH levels and the osteoporosis of the lumbar spine depending on the body mass index (BMI) in a total of 756 women aged 65 years or older who underwent bone mineral density (BMD) measurement and thyroid function test in a routine health screening examination at our medical institution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After the adjustment of the age and BMI, there was a significant positive correlation between serum TSH level within normal range and the BMD of the lumbar spine (r = 0.165, P < 0.001). In the non-obese elderly women, multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for the osteoporosis of the lumbar spine were significantly higher in the 1st and 2nd quartiles of serum TSH levels as compared with their 4th quartile (OR 2.169, 95% CI 1.128-4.171; and OR 2.122, 95% CI 1.123-4.007, respectively). In these women, there were dose-dependent inverse correlations between quartiles of serum TSH levels and the osteoporosis of the lumbar spine (P for trend, 0.008). In the obese women, however, there were no such correlations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, our results suggest that low-normal serum TSH levels might be a potential risk factor for the osteoporosis of the lumbar spine in non-obese elderly women. But further prospective, large-scale, randomized controlled studies are warranted to establish our results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: H-M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013972:Thyrotropin