RESEARCH - High homocysteine level linked to hip fractures in women

[Guest guest]

High homocysteine level linked to hip fractures in women

6/28/2006

By: Reuters Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Jun 28 - Consistent with previous reports, high

plasma levels of homocysteine are associated with an elevated risk of hip

fracture in postmenopausal women, according to study findings presented

Tuesday at ENDO 2006, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, in

Boston.

" Hip fractures are the most serious osteoporotic fractures because they lead

to mortality in up to 24% of women. The number of hip fractures worldwide is

projected to rise to 8.2 million by 2050, " Dr. Meryl S. LeBoff, from Brigham

and Women's Hospital in Boston, told Reuters Health.

Because of the grave nature of hip fractures, it is important to identify

relevant biomarkers that could help to find potentially modifiable risk

factors, Dr. LeBoff said. If homocysteine is actually responsible for the

elevated risk seen, then changes in dietary intake of folate and B vitamins

could potentially modify that risk, she added.

As noted, other studies have linked high homocysteine levels with fractures.

The novelty of the present analysis, according to Dr. LeBoff, " is the very

large and carefully selected group of women " that constituted the study

cohort.

The analysis included 391 case patients and 391 matched controls, drawn from

the more than 90,000 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health

Initiative Observational Study. All of the fractures were centrally

adjudicated by physicians and the women were not taking any medications

known to significantly affect bone metabolism.

The risk of hip fracture tended to increase as homocysteine levels rose.

Patients with the highest levels (> 12.8 mmol/L) were 80% more likely to

sustain a fracture than were those with the lowest levels (< 8.5 mmol/L).

Further studies are needed to shed light on the mechanisms underlying the

association between high homocysteine levels and fractures, Dr. LeBoff

emphasized. One possibility is that homocysteine promotes fractures by

disrupting collagen cross-linking in bones, she added.

Last Updated: 2006-06-27 14:00:07 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By J. Brown, M.D.

http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?Sec=sup & Sub=ort & Pag=dis & ItemId=71546

Not an MD

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org