Background: The relation between the sympathetic nervous system and bone metabolism has been known for some time, although diverse experimental studies do not show uniformity in their evaluation of the different data. The aim of this paper is to determine the relation between urinary catecholamines, as an expression of sympathetic activity, and bone mass among the general population. Methods: A study was made of 274 individuals (124 males and 150 females), who formed part of the Hortega cohort. All underwent measurement of fractionated catecholamines in urine (dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline) and calcaneal density, using a Pixi-Lunar (Lunar Corp., Madison, Wisc., USA). Results: The linear correlation study revealed a statistically significant association of dopamine with bone mass (r = 0. 229, p = 0.0001), which was not observed with the other catecholamines. The effect was shown in men (r = 0.184, p = 0.04) and women (r = 0.251, p = 0.002). When a multiple correlation analysis was performed, the effect of the dopamine (p = 0.038) persisted. Conclusions: Our study shows that dopamine is an independent, positive variable for bone mass in men and women in the general population, and for the latter, it is independent of their hormonal state.

Keywords:
Catecholamines, Dopamine, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, Bone mass
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2007
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