Declining Adrenal Androgens: An Association with Bone Loss in Aging Women

Robert A. Wild, James R. Buchanan, Cathleen Myers, Laurence M. Demers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

116 Scopus citations

Abstract

Bone loss in aging women is a major contributing factor to the onset of osteoporosis. To determine whether a decline in adrenal androgen output might be important in the loss of bone with age, we studied a highly selected group of 14 women, average age 70, and measured adrenal androgens in relationship to trabecular bone density. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels were used as a marker of adrenal sex steroid output while quantitative, computerized tomography was used to determine trabecular bone density. Our results showed that both bone density (r = −0.69, P < 0.01) and DHEAS levels (r = −0.68, P < 0.01) declined with age, and that DHEAS was positively correlated with bone density (r = 0.66, P = 0.01). These data emphasize the association of declining adrenal sex steroid production with declining bone density during the process of aging.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)355-360
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine
Volume186
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1987

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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