Abstract: Objective  To investigate the correlation of sex hormone, cytokine and bone metabolic index in postmenopausal osteoporosis (POP) patients.  Methods  According to the results of the lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD), the subjects were classified into 3 groups: POP group (48 cases), non-osteoporotic postmenopausal (NOP) group (32 cases) and premenopausal healthy group (30 cases). By radioimmunoassay, chemiluminescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), sera of all 110 cases were tested for the levels of estradiol (E2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), insulin-like growth factor-1 ( IGF-1), bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP) and osteocalcin middle amino terminal (N-BGP), and the correlation was analyzed. Results  The levels of IL-6, N-BGP and BAP of POP group were increased and higher than those of NOP group and control group (P<0.01), while the BMD and the levels of E2 and IGF-1 of POP group were lower than those of NOP group and control group (P<0.01). IGF-1 with BMD and E2 showed a significant positive correlation (r=0.572 and 0.436, P<0.01), and IGF-1 was negatively correlated significantly with age (r=-0.541, P<0.01). IL-6 with BMD and E2 was negatively correlated (r=-0.584 and -0.435, P<0.05), and IL-6 with N-BGP and BAP was positively correlated (r=0.546 and 0.354, P<0.05). BMD with IL-6, age, N-BGP and BAP was negatively correlated (P<0.05), and BMD with E2 and IGF-1 was positively correlated (P<0.05). Conclusions  The levels of IL-6, N-BGP, BAP, E2 and IGF-1 may be indices of clinical diagnosis and treatment of POP.

Key words: Sex hormone, Cytokine, Bone metabolic index, Osteoporosis, Menopause, Sex hormone, Cytokine, Bone metabolic index, Osteoporosis, Menopause