Association of body composition with predicted hip bone strength among Chinese postmenopausal women: a longitudinal study

Xin Shi,Yunyang Deng,Yu-Ming Chen,Huili Kang,Su-Mei Xiao,Meng Liu

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-42031-1

Xin Shi, Yunyang Deng + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42031-1

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Abstract

Body composition and bone strength are closely associated. How lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) contribute to bone strength remains ambiguous. We investigated the associations of total body LM and FM with changes in predicted hip bone strength over a period of 3 years in 1,743 postmenopausal Chinese women from the communities of Guangzhou, China. The body compositions of the women were obtained with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We used the hip structure analysis program to obtain the bone parameters at the femoral neck region, including the bone mineral density (BMD), cross-sectional area (CSA), cortical thickness (CT), section modulus (SM) and buckling ratio (BR). We found the FM and LM were positive predictors for hip bone strength (β > 0, P < 0.05). The LM had a larger contribution to the BMD, CSA, CT, SM and/or their annual percent changes (βLM > βFM), while the contribution of FM to the BR and its annual percent change was higher than LM (|βFM| > |βLM|). Further analysis found that the associations of FM and LM with bone parameters were stronger in the underweight and normal weight participants (|βBMI1| > |βBMI2|). Overall, FM and LM had positive but differential effects on predicted hip bone strength, with a higher impact in the thinner participants.

Highlights

Osteoporosis is a common skeletal disorder in middle aged and elderly people[1]
We evaluated the associations of body mass index (BMI), lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) with hip bone phenotypes and their annual percent changes at a 3 year follow-up of 1,743 Chinese postmenopausal women aged 48–77 years
The BMI, LM and FM were all positively associated with predicted hip bone strength

Summary

Introduction

Osteoporosis is a common skeletal disorder in middle aged and elderly people[1] It is characterised by decreased bone strength which can lead to an increased risk of fracture. Several studies have reported a positive correlation between FM and bone strength[23,24,25], but others found no association or even an inverse correlation[26,27] These inconsistencies could be attributable to population differences in the prevalence of people who are overweight and obese. We evaluated the association between body composition and predicted hip bone strength in individuals with varied body mass index (BMI) levels

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