Abstract:
The relative influence of genetic and environmental determinants on bone mass is still unclear. Using an original multicentric mode of recruitment, based on absorptiometry current practice, the hypothesis of a familial predisposition to low bone mineral content was assessed. The study was based on dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements of lumbar and femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD), using daughters of women with a low BMD (case mothers). These BMD values were compared with those of control daughters of women with a normal BMD. Case mothers (n= 72) aged 54.3 ± 4.8 years were recruited on the basis of a questionnaire and a vertebral Z-score < – 2 SD. Their healthy daughters of more than 20 years (n= 77) aged 28.2 ± 4.9 years had their vertebral and femoral BMD Z-score determined. The control groups were composed of mothers aged 54.1 ± 4.7 years, paired by age ± 2 years to the case mothers, and of their daughters of more than 20 years old, aged 27.7 ± 5.8 years. For daughters, a significant difference was found between the mean vertebral Z-scores (–0.82 ± 1.08 for cases and 0.01 ± 1.14 for controls, p < 0.0001). The difference was in the same direction but was not statistically significant for mean femoral Z-scores (–0.58 ± 1.15 for cases and –0.22 ± 1.33 for controls, p <0.073). These findings confirm the hypothesis of a familial predisposition to low BMD.
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Received: 18 June 1997 / Accepted: 16 January 1998
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Barthe, N., Basse-Cathalinat, B., Meunier, P. et al. Measurement of Bone Mineral Density in Mother–Daughter Pairs for Evaluating the Family Influence on Bone Mass Acquisition: A GRIO Survey. Osteoporos Int 8, 379–384 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s001980050078
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s001980050078