Fat body mass, leptin and femur bone mineral density in hip-fractured women

Fat body mass (FBM) is a strong predictor of both bone mineral density (BMD) and risk of hip fracture, but the mechanisms responsible are not completely understood. We addressed whether leptin is the link between FBM and BMD in hip-fractured women. Sixty-two of 74 women with hip fractures were evaluated. Serum leptin was measured by radioimmunoassay, 23.4±9.1 days (mean±SD) after fracture occurrence. BMD and body composition were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). As expected, a positive linear correlation was found between FBM and both leptin (r=0.782; p<0.001) and femur BMD measured at five sites (r value ranging from 0.293 to 0.498 depending on the site of the femur BMD assessment, p<0.05). A positive correlation between leptin and BMD measured at the intertrochanteric area (r=0.259; p<0.05) but not at the other four sites was shown. At linear multiple regression [dependent variable = femur BMD; independent variables = age, weight, height, body mass index, fracture type, term fracture-DXA, Barthel index score, FBM, lean body mass, serum PTH, serum 25(OH)vitamin D and leptin], FBM was positively associated with BMD measured at all the five sites. The association between leptin and BMD was inverse and it was significant at four of the five sites of the BMD assessment. In conclusion, in a sample of hip-fractured women, the positive association between FBM and femur BMD was not explained by serum leptin. On the contrary, after adjustment for FBM and other confounding variables, an inverse association between leptin and BMD was found.