title: The Association of Higher Plasma Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Levels with Lower Bone Mineral Density and Higher Bone Turnover Rate in Postmenopausal Women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite evidence from animal and clinical studies showing the detrimental effects of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) on bone metabolism, there are no clinical studies relating circulating MIF levels to osteoporosis-related phenotypes. This cross-sectional study investigated the association of plasma MIF with bone mineral density (BMD), bone turnover markers (BTMs), and prevalence of osteoporosis in postmenopausal Korean women.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 246 women not taking any medications or diagnosed with any diseases that could affect bone metabolism were enrolled. BMD values at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total femur, and blood levels of MIF and BTMs were measured in all subjects. Osteoporosis was defined by World Health Organization criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Before and after adjustment for confounding variables, higher MIF levels were significantly associated with lower BMD values at all measured sites and higher levels of all BTMs. All BMD values and BTMs significantly changed in a dose-dependent fashion across increasing MIF quartile. When participants were divided into two groups according to osteoporosis status, postmenopausal women with osteoporosis demonstrated 24.2% higher plasma MIF levels than those without osteoporosis (P=0.041). The odds ratio per each standard deviation increment of MIF levels for prevalent osteoporosis was 1.32 (95% confidence interval, 1.01 to 1.73).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides the first epidemiological evidence that higher plasma MIF may be associated with higher risk of osteoporosis resulting from lower bone mass and higher bone turnover rate, and thus it could be a potential biomarker of poor bone health outcomes in postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeonmok
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1756-8300
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seong Hee
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2558-2118
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chaeho
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Hun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. umkbj0825@amc.seoul.kr.
authors.forename: Beom Jun
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8591-1759
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Koh
keywords: Bone density; Bone remodeling; Bone strength; Macrophage migration-inhibitory factors; Osteoporosis