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. 2021 Apr 25;13(5):1454.
doi: 10.3390/nu13051454.

Plasma Fatty Acids and Quantitative Ultrasound, DXA and pQCT Derived Parameters in Postmenopausal Spanish Women

Raúl Roncero-Martín  1 , Ignacio Aliaga  2 , Jose M Moran  1 , Luis M Puerto-Parejo  1 , Purificación Rey-Sánchez  1 , María de la Luz Canal-Macías  1 , Antonio Sánchez-Fernández  3 , Juan D Pedrera-Zamorano  1 , Fidel López-Espuela  1 , Vicente Vera  2 , Purificación Cerrato-Carretero  1 , Jesús M Lavado-García  1
Affiliations

Plasma Fatty Acids and Quantitative Ultrasound, DXA and pQCT Derived Parameters in Postmenopausal Spanish Women

Raúl Roncero-Martín et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Different factors may contribute to the development of osteopenia or osteoporosis. Fatty acids are key nutrients for health, and a number of studies have reported an association between bone mineral density (BMD) and fatty acid intake. We aimed to investigate the relationships between serum levels of different fatty acids and bone parameters determined by quantitative bone ultrasound (QUS), peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT), and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in a sample of Spanish postmenopausal women. We enrolled a total of 301 postmenopausal women (median age 59 years; interquartile range (IQR) 7) in this study. All participants underwent full densitometric screening, including calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS), peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT), and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), as well as plasma fatty acid measurement. After adjustment for potential confounders, plasma n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels correlated with BMD in the spine (r = 0.150; p = 0.014) and femoral neck (r = 0.143; p = 0.019). By multiple linear regression, an independent statistically significant positive relationship was observed between BMD in the spine and BMI (β = 0.288; p = 0.001) as well as total plasma n-3 PUFAs (β = 0.155; p = 0.009). The plasma n-3 PUFA level was also a significant and positive predictor of BMD at the femoral neck (β = 0.146; p = 0.009). Independent risk factors for low BMD (T-score ≤ 1) were determined by logistic regression analysis, and a relatively high level of plasma n-3 PUFAs (OR = 0.751; 95% CI 0.587-0.960, p = 0.022) was identified as a protective factor against low bone mass. In this single-center sample of Spanish postmenopausal women, we reported a significant positive and statistically independent association between BMD and plasma levels of n-3 PUFAs.

Keywords: bone mineral density; fatty acids; n-3 PUFAs; osteoporosis; postmenopause.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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