Age-related changes in bone mineral density and serum bone-related proteins in premenopausal and postmenopausal Japanese women

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to characterize the age-relat ed change in bone metabolism during the pre- and postmenopausal periods, an d to define the standard levels of three serum markers of bone metabolism, pyridinoline cross-linked carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (I CTP), carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), and bone gla protein (BGP), in Japanese adult women. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine (L-2-L-4) and the serum levels of ICTP, PICP and BGP were determined in a total of 207 healthy Japanese women (108 premenopausal and 99 postmenopausal). The lumbar BMD decreased significantly with increasing age not only in postmenopausal women (P < 0.001) but also in premenopausal women (P = 0.014). There was a clear gap in the serum levels of ICTP, PICP and BGP between the premenopausal and postmenopausal group (P < 0.001), but those were absolutely the same within each group except for ICTP in the po stmenopausal women. These findings and the values of serum ICTP, PICP and B GP in pre- and postmenopausal women obtained in this study are expected to be very useful for treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.