The association of serum osteoprotegerin and osteoporosis in postmenopausal hemodialysis patients: A pilot study

Aim: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a potent inhibitor of osteoclasts and plays an important role in bone metabolism. Relatively high serum levels of OPG have been observed in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis compared with age-matched controls. No data, however, are available on the relationship between low bone density and serum OPG levels in postmenopausal hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: The enrolled subjects included 28 postmenopausal HD patients and 28 age-matched postmenopausal women with normal renal function as controls. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in both hips. Low BMD was defined as femoral neck T-score 2=0.262, p=0.003) was an independent predictor of low BMD in postmenopausal HD patients and explained 26.2% of the variance. Conclusions: Serum OPG is associated with low BMD in postmenopausal HD patients.