Objective: Adiponectin is a recently discovered hormone secreted by adipocytes. Adiponectin plays an important role in the regulation of insulin sensitivity as well as the propensity to inflammation and atherosclerosis. In the present study, the authors explore the relationship between adiponectin and bone mass in premenopausal women. The relationship of fat mass compared to lean body mass to bone mass was also investigated.

Material and Method: Two hundred premenopausal women aged between 20 and 40 years were studied. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at L2-4 and femoral neck by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Serum adiponectin concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay.

Results: At the lumbar spines, factors associated with BMD were age (p < 0.01) and lean body mass (p < 0.001). No independent association with fat mass was demonstrated. Likewise, at the femoral neck, only lean body mass was related to BMD (p < 0.01). In terms of the relation of serum adiponectin to BMD, no association of serum adiponectin to BMD at the lumbar spines or femoral neck was found.

Conclusion: Altogether, the present findings do not suggest the independent role of adiponectin in the accrual of bone mass in females, although such a role still cannot be excluded in men or postmenopausal women.

Keywords: Adiponectin, BMD, Premenopausal, Body composition