Age-related changes and reference intervals of RANKL, OPG, and bone turnover markers in Indian women.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to establish reference interval for RANKL, OPG, RANKL/OPG, and bone turnover markers CTX and PINP in healthy Indian women. This was a cross-sectional study on 374 healthy Indian women in the age group of 20-65years. Serum levels of total RANKL, OPG, CTX, PINP, and estradiol were determined by commercial ELISA kits. The reference intervals for these cytokines and bone turnover markers were based on the 95% centrally distributed data. Median RANKL (245.6pmol/L vs. 149pmol/L) and RANKL/OPG (38.7 vs. 20.4) were higher, while sCTX (380ng/L vs. 551ng/L) and OPG levels (6.1pmol/L vs. 7.4pmol/L) were lower in premenopausal women than those in postmenopausal women. PINP levels were comparable in both groups. Women were classified into 5 groups according to decades of age and the reference intervals for RANKL, OPG, RANKL/OPG ratio, and CTX and PINP in each group were reported. We reported menopausal status-based and age-related reference intervals for serum RANKL, OPG, RANKL/OPG ratio, and CTX and PINP in healthy Indian women.