Abstract
High serum triglyceride (TG) levels may lower bone fracture risk, but the association between serum TG and bone resorption activity is unclear. The aim of the present study was to analyze this association using casual serum TG levels in patients with and without accelerated bone resorption. A case-control study was performed in 39 patients with accelerated bone resorption and in 69 controls, treated between April 2011 and March 2016 at the Internal Medicine Clinic. Bone resorption activity was assessed by urinary N-telopeptide of type I collagen (uNTx; a marker of bone resorption), which is routinely measured at the Internal Medicine Clinic. Cases were female outpatients aged ≥40 years in whom uNTx levels were ≥54.3nmol bone collagen equivalent (BCE)/mmol creatinine. Subjects with casual serum TG levels ＞150mg/dl were diagnosed with potential hypertriglyceridemia (PHTG). Propensity score-adjusted multinomial logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for PHTG in cases compared with controls. Correlations between uNTX and casual serum TG levels in all patients were evaluated using multivariate regression. The prevalence of PHTG was significantly lower in cases than in controls (OR 0.20; 95% CI 0.05-0.65; P=0.006). uNTx levels were negatively associated with casual serum TG levels in all patients (r=-0.07, P=0.046). These results suggest that serum TG levels are negatively associated with bone resorption activity. Reduced bone resorption activity may explain, in part, the reduced fracture risk in Japanese middle-aged and elderly female patients with hypertriglyceridemia.
