according to results of a study.
Lijuan Yang, MD, of First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou (China) Medical University and colleagues reported the results in Menopause. The cross-sectional study included 892 normoglycemic postmenopausal women, of whom 147 had a first-degree FHD; the mean age was 55 years among both those with and those without first-degree FHD. The investigators assessed BMDs of the femoral neck and lumbar spine with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and insulin resistance with Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR).
Lumbar spine BMD was higher in those with first-degree FHD than in those without, at 1.077 and 1.034 g/cm2, respectively; femoral neck BMD was similarly higher at 0.89 vs. 0.85 g/cm2, respectively. HOMA-IR also was higher among those with first-degree FHD than among those without, at 1.85 and 1.60, respectively.
Spearman’s correlation analyses showed that lumbar spine BMD was positively associated with first-degree FHD (P = .008) and HOMA-IR (P = .041), as was femoral neck BMD (P = .013 and P = .005, respectively). Results of multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that first-degree FHD and HOMA-IR were independent factors positively associated with femoral neck BMD (P = .029 and P = .0009, respectively) and lumbar spine BMD (P = .029 and P = .002).
“The present study demonstrated that lumbar spine BMD and femoral neck BMD were positively associated with HOMA-IR in postmenopausal women and that individuals with a first-degree FHD were more likely to have high HOMA-IR,” the investigators said. “We suggest that the elevated BMD in individuals with a first-degree FHD could be attributed to insulin resistance,” which appears to be inherited by persons with a first-degree FHD.
The authors noted that the cross-sectional design is a limitations of this study. They suggested future studies might investigate the relationship between insulin resistance and bone development in these populations by assessing osteocalcin and P1NP.
The study received funding or support from National Key R&D Program of China and from the Wenzhou Science & Technology Bureau. The authors did not disclose any conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Yang L et al. Menopause. 2019 Aug 19. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001396.