Bone Abstracts

Background: The presence of vascular calcification (VC) is a predictive factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases, especially in the obese population. VC has also been inversely associated with bone mineral density (BMD) but the results have been inconsistent. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between VC, obesity and volumetric BMD (vBMD).

Methods: We studied 148 healthy men and women, aged 55–75 years, divided into three groups based on their BMI: normal weight (BMI 18.5–25 kg/m² n=58), overweight (25–30 kg/m² n=30) and obese (>30 kg/m² n=60). vBMD of the distal tibia and radius was measured by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT). Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) was used to determine vBMD of the lumbar spine (L1–L3) and proximal femur. Radius and tibia VC were assessed quantitatively on the HR-pQCT images and abdominal aortic VC semi-quantitatively on the lumbar spine QCT images.

Results: In our population, there was no correlation between BMI and the amount of VC at any site. vBMD was higher in obese people compared to normal weight at the radius and tibia (P=0.0001), but not the lumbar spine or hip. Lumbar spine vBMD was associated with abdominal aortic VC (P=0.002). However, no associations were observed between any other BMD measurement or any other site of VC.

Conclusion: We did not observe the expected association between VC and obesity; this might be due to our exclusion of diabetes. We did observe an association between vBMD and obesity. It is surprising that the well-known inverse association between spine vBMD and VC was only observed at the abdominal aorta, and not at peripheral sites, nor were other vBMD measurements associated with abdominal aorta VC.