Top

Published in:

01-12-2005 | Original Article

Gender differences in relationships between body composition components, their distribution and bone mineral density: a cross-sectional opposite sex twin study

Authors: Joanna Makovey, Vasi Naganathan, Philip Sambrook

Published in: Osteoporosis International | Issue 12/2005

Abstract

Numerous studies indicate that bone mineral density (BMD) is closely related to body mass and its components. Most studies have examined these relationships in women with little attention given to how these relationships differ by gender. The aims of the present study were to use the opposite sex twin model to determine if there were gender differences in the relationship between body composition and its relation to BMD and how any such differences were influenced by age. We measured body composition and bone mass by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in 93 pairs of opposite sex twins. To examine the effect of age, they were divided into two age groups: under 50 years old (45 pairs) and over 50 years old (48 pairs). Lean mass (LM) had stronger positive relationships with the most bone variables than fat mass in both genders at all ages. Fat mass (FM) had positive relationships with total body and hip BMD in women under age 50, but not over 50. There was no significant relationship between FM and total or regional BMD in men under age 50, but men over 50 showed positive relationships between FM measures and total and some regional BMD measures. Central adiposity showed a positive relationship with BMD in men over 50 and women under 50. Fat mass (FM) and lean mass (LM) and their distribution in the body have different relationships with regional BMD in men and women that differ by age.

Edelstein SL, Barrett-Connor E (1993) Relation between body size and bone mineral density in elderly men and women. Am J Epidemiol 138:160–169

Baumgartner RN, Stauber PM, Koehler KM, Romero L, Garry PJ (1996) Associations of fat and muscle masses with bone mineral in elderly men and women. Am J Clin Nutr 63:365–372

Proctor DN, Melton LJ, Khosla S, Crowson CS, O’Connor MK, Riggs BL (2000) Relative influence of physical activity, muscle mass and strength on bone density. Osteoporos Int 11:944–952

Reid IR, Plank LD, Evans MC (1992) Fat mass is an important determinant of whole body bone density in premenopausal women but not in men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 75:779–782

Reid IR, Evans MC, Ames RW (1994) Volumetric bone-density of the lumbar spine is related to fat mass but not lean mass in normal postmenopausal women. Osteoporos Int 4:362–367

Compston JE, Bhambhani M, Laskey MA, Murphy S, Khaw KT (1992) Body composition and bone mass in post-menopausal women. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 37:426–431

Aloia JF, Vaswani A, Ma R, Flaster E (1995) To what extent is bone mass determined by fat-free or fat mass? Am J Clin Nutr 61:1110–1114

Chen Z, Lohman TG, Stini WA, Ritenbaugh C, Aickin M (1997) Fat or lean tissue mass: Which one is the major determinant of bone mineral mass in healthy postmenopausal women? J Bone Miner Res 12:144–151

Pluijm SMF, Visser M, Smit JH, Popp-Snijders C, Roos JC, Lips P (2001) Determinants of bone mineral density in older men and women: Body composition as mediator. J Bone Miner Res 16:2142–2151

10.

Douchi T, Oki T, Nakamura S, Ijuin H, Yamamoto S, Nagata Y (1997) The effect of body composition on bone density in pre- and postmenopausal women. Maturitas 27:55–60

11.

Douchi T, Yamamoto S, Oki T, Maruta K, Kuwahata R, Yamasaki H, Nagata Y (2000) Difference in the effect of adiposity on bone density between pre- and postmenopausal women. Maturitas 34:261–266

12.

MacInnis RJ, Cassar C, Nowson CA, Paton LM, Flicker L, Hopper JL, Larkins RG, Wark JD (2003) Determinants of bone density in 30- to 65-year-old women: a co-twin study. J Bone Miner Res 18:1650–1656

13.

Kirchengast S, Peterson B, Hauser G, Knogler W (2001) Body composition characteristics are associated with the bone density of the proximal femur end in middle- and old-aged women and men. Maturitas 39:133–145

14.

Douchi T, Kuwahata R, Matsuo T, Uto H, Oki T, Nagata Y (2003) Relative contribution of lean and fat mass component to bone mineral density in males. J Bone Miner Metab 21:17–21

15.

Campbell LV, Carey DG, Chisholm DJ (1996) Measurement of central adiposity. A bet each way? Diabetes Care 19:1033–1034

16.

Wang Q, Hassager C, Ravn P, Wang S, Christiansen C (1994) Total and regional body-composition changes in early postmenopausal women: age-related or menopause-related? Am J Clin Nutr 60:843–848

17.

Hollenbach KA, Barrett-Connor E, Edelstein SL, Holbrook T (1993) Cigarette smoking and bone mineral density in older men and women. Am J Public Health 83:1265–1270

18.

Hopper JL, Seeman E (1994) The bone density of female twins discordant for tobacco use. N Engl J Med 330:387–392

19.

Kiel DP, Zhang Y, Hannan MT, Anderson JJ, Baron JA, Felson DT (1996) The effect of smoking at different life stages on bone mineral density in elderly men and women. Osteoporos Int 6:240–248

20.

Burger H, de Laet CE, van Daele PL, Weel AE, Witteman JC, Hofman A, Pols HA (1998) Risk factors for increased bone loss in an elderly population: the Rotterdam Study. Am J Epidemiol 147:871–879

21.

Hannan MT, Felson DT, Dawson-Hughes B, Tucker KL, Cupples LA, Wilson PW, Kiel DP (2000) Risk factors for longitudinal bone loss in elderly men and women: the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. J Bone Miner Res 15:710–720

22.

Griffiths MR, Noakes KA, Pocock NA (1997) Correcting the magnification error of fan beam densitometers. J Bone Miner Res 12:119–123

23.

Visser M, Kiel DP, Langlois J, Hannan MT, Felson DT, Wilson PWF, Harris TB (1998) Muscle mass and fat mass in relation to bone mineral density in very old men and women: the Framingham Heart Study. Appl Radiat Isot 49:745–747

24.

Coin A, Sergi G, Beninca P, Lupoli L, Cinti G, Ferrara L, Benedetti G, Tomasi G, Pisent C, Enzi G (2000) Bone mineral density and body composition in underweight and normal elderly subjects. Osteoporos Int 11:1043–1050

25.

Lindsay R, Cosman F, Herrington BS, Himmelstein S (1992) Bone mass and body-composition in normal women. J Bone Miner Res 7:55–63

26.

Reid IR (2000) Relationships among body mass, its components, and bone. Bone 31:547–555

27.

Khosla S, Atkinson EJ, Riggs BL, Melton LJ (1996) Relationship between body composition and bone mass in women. J Bone Miner Res 11:857–863

28.

Nguyen TV, Howard GM, Kelly PJ, Eisman JA (1998) Bone mass, lean mass, and fat mass: Same genes or same environments? Am J Epidemiol 147:3–16

29.

Taaffe DR, Cauley JA, Danielson M, Nevitt MC, Lang TF, Bauer DC, Harris TB (2001) Race and sex effects on the association between muscle strength, soft tissue, and bone mineral density in healthy elders: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study. J Bone Miner Res 16:1343–1352

30.

Young D, Hopper JL, MacInnis RJ, Nowson CA, Hoang NH, Wark JD (2001) Changes in body composition as determinants of longitudinal changes in bone mineral measures in 8- to 26-year-old female twins. Osteoporos Int 12:506–515

31.

Douchi T, Yamamoto S, Oki T, Maruta K, Kuwahata R, Nagata Y (2000) Relationship between body fat distribution and bone mineral density in premenopausal Japanese women. Obstet Gynecol 95:722–725

32.

Matsuo T, Douchi T, Nakae M, Uto H, Oki T, Nagata Y (2003) Relationship of upper body fat distribution to higher regional lean mass and bone mineral density. J Bone Miner Metab 21:179–183

33.

Wu CH, Yao WJ, Lu FH, Yang YC, Wu JS, Chang CJ (2001) Sex differences of body fat distribution and cardiovascular dysmetabolic factors in old age. Age Ageing 30:331–336

34.

Doyle F, Brown J, Lachance C (1970) Relation between bone mass and muscle weight. Lancet 1:391–393

35.

Grodin JM, Siiteri PK, MacDonald PC (1973) Source of estrogen production in postmenopausal women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 36:207–214

36.

Greendale GA, Edelstein S, Barrett-Connor E (1997) Endogenous sex steroids and bone mineral density in older women and men: the Rancho Bernardo Study. J Bone Miner Res 12:1833–1843

37.

Reid IR, Evans MC, Cooper GJS, Ames RW, Stapleton J (1993) Circulating insulin levels are related to bone-density in normal postmenopausal women. Am J Physiol 265:E655-E659

38.

Thomas T, Burguera B, Melton LJ, Atkinson EJ, O’Fallon WM, Riggs BL, Khosla S (2001) Role of serum leptin, insulin, and estrogen levels as potential mediators of the relationship between fat mass and bone mineral density in men versus women. Bone 29:114–120

39.

Ruhl CE, Everhart JE (2002) Relationship of serum leptin concentration with bone mineral density in the United States population. J Bone Miner Res 17:1896–1903

40.

Douchi T, Iwamoto I, Yoshimitsu N, Kosha S, Nagata Y (2002) Leptin production in pre- and postmenopausal women. Maturitas 42:219–223

41.

Thomas T, Burguera B (2002) Is leptin the link between fat and bone mass? J Bone Mineral Res 17:1563–1569

42.

Kontogianni MD, Dafni UG, Routsias JG, Skopouli FN (2004) Blood leptin and adiponectin as possible mediators of the relation between fat mass and BMD in perimenopausal women. J Bone Miner Res 19:546–551

43.

Walton C, Lees B, Crook D, Worthington M, Godsland IF, Stevenson JC (1995) Body fat distribution, rather than overall adiposity, influences serum lipids and lipoproteins in healthy men independently of age. Am J Med 99:459–464

44.

Faulkner RA, McCulloch RG, Fyke SL, De Coteau WE, Mckay HA, Bailey DA, Houston CS, Wilkinson AA (1995) Comparison of areal and estimated volumetric bone mineral density values between older men and women. Osteoporos Int 5:271–275

45.

Naganathan V, Sambrook P. Gender differences in volumetric bone density: a study of opposite-sex twins. Osteoporos Int 14:564–569

46.

Pocock NA, Noakes KA, Majerovic Y, Griffiths MR (1997) Magnification error of femoral geometry using fan beam densitometers. Calcif Tissue Int 60:8–10

Title: Gender differences in relationships between body composition components, their distribution and bone mineral density: a cross-sectional opposite sex twin study
Authors: Joanna Makovey
Vasi Naganathan
Philip Sambrook
Publication date: 01-12-2005
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Osteoporosis International / Issue 12/2005
Print ISSN: 0937-941X
Electronic ISSN: 1433-2965
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-005-1841-4

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Gender differences in relationships between body composition components, their distribution and bone mineral density: a cross-sectional opposite sex twin study

Abstract

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 12/2005

Vitamin D, parathyroid hormone levels and bone mineral density in community-dwelling older women: The Rancho Bernardo Study

Knowledge about osteoporosis and its related factors among public health nurses in Taiwan

Bone mineral density measures in longitudinal studies: The choice of phantom is crucial for quality assessment. The Tromsø study, a population-based study

Increased bone density and decreased bone turnover, but no evident alteration of fracture susceptibility in elderly women with diabetes mellitus

Is there an association between high heparanase level and osteoporosis risk in breast cancer patients without clinical evidence of bone metastases?

A list of device-specific thresholds for the clinical interpretation of peripheral x-ray absorptiometry examinations