Abstract
Background: Some studies have implicated several possible metabolic linkages between osteoporosis and
vascular calcification, including estrogen deficiency, vitamin D excess, vitamin K deficiency and lipid oxidation
products. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether osteoporosis and atherosclerosis are related to each other
or are independent processes, both related to aging. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the
correlation between arterial thickening and bone status in a sample of apparently healthy Moroccan women.
Methods: Seventy-two postmenopausal women were studied. All patients were without secondary causes that
might affect bone density. Bone status was assessed by bone mineral density (BMD) in lumbar spine and all femoral
sites. Arterial wall thickening was assessed by intima-media thickness (IMT) in carotid artery (CA) and femoral
artery (FA). Prevalent plaques were categorized into four groups ranging from low echogenicity to high
echogenicity.
Results: The mean age was 59.2 ± 8.3 years. 84.7% had at least one plaque. By Spearman Rank correlation, CA
IMT was negatively correlated to Femoral total BMD (r = -0.33), Femoral neck BMD (r = -0.23), Ward triangle
BMD (r = -0.30) and Trochanter BMD (r = -0.28) while there was no association with lumbar BMD. In multiple
regression analysis, CA IMT emerged as an independent factor significantly associated with all femoral sites BMD
after adjusting of confounding factors. FA IMT failed to be significantly associated with both Femoral and Lumbar
BMD. No significant differences between echogenic, predominantly echogenic, predominantly echolucent and
echolucent plaques groups were found concerning lumbar BMD and all femoral sites BMD
Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a negative correlation between bone mineral density (BMD) qnd carotid
intima-media thickness (IMT) in postmenopausal women, independently of confounding factors. We suggest that
bone status should be evaluated in patients with vascular disease to assess whether preventive or therapeutic
intervention is necessarry