Lumbar bone mineral density measured by quantitative computed tomography (QCT): association with abdominal adipose tissue in different menopausal periods of Chinese women

Abstract

Objective To investigate the correlation between abdominal adipose tissue and lumbar bone mineral density (BMD) in different menopausal periods of Chinese women. Methods 230 women were included in this cross-sectional study. Subjects were divided into a perimenopausal and postmenopausal group. Lumbar BMD was measured by QCT to assess total adipose tissue (TAT), visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT). The concomitant variables age, body mass index (BMI), and endocrine hormones were also considered. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between abdominal adipose tissue and BMD. Results In the perimenopausal group, Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was no significant association among TAT, SAT, VAT, and BMD (all p > .05). In the postmenopausal group, BMD was negatively correlated with TAT, SAT, and VAT. In both groups, after adjustment for age and BMI, multiple linear regression analysis showed that VAT was negatively correlated with BMD (p < .05). In contrast, there was no significant correlation with TAT, SAT, and BMD. Conclusions High VAT volume is associated with low lumbar BMD in both perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. TAT and SAT have no significant correlation with lumbar trabecular BMD.