What is really responsible for bone loss in spontaneous premature ovarian failure? A new enigma.

OBJECTIVE

To determine if there is a relation between the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and oestradiol levels with values found in bone mineral density, at lumbar spinal and femoral neck levels, in patients with spontaneous premature ovarian failure (POF) as at the time of diagnosis.

METHOD: Cross-sectional study. Eighty-five patients were selected with a diagnosis of POF. Inclusion criteria. Forty women with bone mineral density (BMD) in any of the regions, that is, lumbar spine column or femoral neck. Forty-two age-matched healthy women were included as controls.

RESULTS

The average FSH value found was 80.11 mUI/ml, while the oestradiol average value was 37.2 pg/ml. The FSH values were correlated with the BMD values at the lumbar spinal column (p < 0.002) and the femoral neck (p < 0.002). The oestradiol values did not bear any relation with the BMD values in L2-L4 (p = 0.420) nor with the femoral neck (p = 0.868).

CONCLUSIONS

High FSH concentrations, but not oestradiol, are positively associated with bone mass loss in both skeletal regions, in patients with spontaneous POF.