Association of adipokines and estradiol with bone and carotid calcifications in postmenopausal women.

AbstractObjectives Carotid artery calcifications (CAC) and high carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT) are associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) by unknown mechanisms in postmenopausal women. Leptin, adiponectin and estradiol may mediate these associations. Our aim was to study the relationships of the aforementioned factors to bone health (BMD) and carotid atherosclerosis (CAC and cIMT).Method Participants (n = 290, mean age 73.6 years) for this cross-sectional OSTPRE-BBA study (Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention – Bone, Brain and Atherosclerosis) were randomly selected from the OSTPRE cohort in 2009. Femoral neck and total body BMDs, trunk and total body fat mass were measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and cIMT (mm) and CAC (no/yes) were measured with B-type ultrasound. Free estradiol, adiponectin and leptin were measured from serum samples.Results Circulating estradiol levels were associated with leptin (β = 0.131, p   0.05),...