A preliminary assessment of some markers of bone turnover amongst pre and post-menopausal females in Aba, south east Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Previous studies on the values of common biochemical indices of bone turnover amongst pre and post-menopausal female subjects in Nigeria are relatively scanty.
Aim: To establish baseline values for these indices amongst pre-menopausal and post-menopausal female subjects and to further determine the relative effects of body mass index (BMI) and years since menopause (YSM) on these biochemical parameters amongst post-menopausal female subjects.
Methods: Thirty-three pre-menopausal and 67 post-menopausal female Nigerian subjects resident in Aba, south eastern Nigeria were recruited into the study. The age, body mass index and last menstrual period of each subject were determined and the years since menopause calculated as appropriate. Five milliliters of venous blood was collected from each subject for determination of serum calcium, inorganic phosphate, alkaline phosphate, total protein, albumin and globulin by spectophotometry.
Results: Post-menopausal subjects were significantly older and had higher BMI  (P<0.05). Post-menopausal subjects had significantly higher mean values of all studied biochemical indices of bone turnover: calcium, inorganic phosphate and alkaline phosphatase  (p<0.05). For the serum proteins, only values of serum globulin were  significantly higher in post-menopausal subjects (p<0.05) as values of total serum protein and albumin did not show any significant differences between the two groups (p>0.05). There was no significant correlation between any of the studied biochemical indices of bone turnover and either years since YSM or BMI among post-menopausal subjects (p>0.05).
Conclusion: This study provides baseline normative values for biochemical indices of bone turnover in post-menopausal females in Aba.

Keywords: Menopause, Calcium, Body mass index, Alkaline phosphatase, Inorganic phosphate