Relationship between bone mass density and tensile strength of the skin in women.

Abstract

Skin and bone may be affected similarly during the climacteric and during long-term corticotherapy. Little is known about the correlation between the respective alterations in bone mass density (BMD) and tensile strength of the skin. A total of 100 women aged 19-88 years, receiving, or not, hormone replenishment therapy or systemic corticosteroids, were enrolled in the study. Tensile strength of the inner forearm skin was measured using the suction method operated in both the steep and progressive-force application modes. BMD was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry at the hip, femoral neck and lumbar spine. Being heterogeneous, the population of volunteers yielded a wide range of BMD and cutaneous tensile strength values. However, significant correlations were found between BMD and tensile skin parameters. In particular, a positive correlation was yielded between the biological elasticity of skin and the BMD of the hip and femoral neck. An overall correlation is shown between skin elasticity on a relatively sun-protected area and cortico-trabecular BMD.