Association of bone mineral density (BMD), body mass index (BMI) and serum osteocalcin in South Indian post menopausal women

Aim: The main objective of this study is to analyse the correlation of body mass index (BMI), bone mineral density (BMD) and age with that of serum osteocalcin in postmenopausal women of south India and thereafter investigate the possibility of using osteocalcin as a tool for early diagnosis of osteoporosis. Method: Forty five women with age ranging from 45-75 underwent BMD [using quantitative ultrasonography (QUS) examinations at t-score at calcaneus], BMI, and osteocalcin estimation. The correlation of results obtained between the above parameters was evaluated using Pearson's correlation test. Result: The findings indicated a significant negative correlation between serum osteocalcin levels and BMD (r = -0.628, p < 0.0001) and linear regression equation (y = -2.538x + 15.88, R-2 = 0.395). The correlation between osteocalcinwith BMI and that of age with osteocalcinwas found to be non-significant (r = 0.0048, p = 0.97 & r = 0.0701, p = 0.64 respectively). Conclusion: Since the findings highlight a significant correlation between serum osteocalcin and BMD, this study infers that serum osteocalcin along with BMD could be used as a specific bone marker to detect the onset of osteoporosis at a considerably early age among postmenopausal women. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier, a division of RELX India, Pvt. Ltd on behalf of Indian Journal of Medical Specialities.