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Plasma Levels of Branched Chain Amino Acids, Incident Hip Fractures and Bone Mineral Density of the Hip and Spine.

TitlePlasma Levels of Branched Chain Amino Acids, Incident Hip Fractures and Bone Mineral Density of the Hip and Spine.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2023
AuthorsCarbone, L, Bůzková, P, Fink, HA, Robbins, JA, Barzilay, JI, Elam, RE, Isales, C, Connelly, MA, Mukamal, KJ
JournalJ Clin Endocrinol Metab
Date Published2023 May 18
ISSN1945-7197
Abstract<p><b>OBJECTIVE: </b>Branched chain amino acids (BCAA) are building blocks for protein, an essential component of bone. However, the association of plasma levels of BCAA with fractures in populations outside of Hong Kong or with hip fractures in particular is not known. The purpose of these analyses was to determine the relationship of BCAA including valine, leucine and isoleucine and total BCAA (standard deviation of the sum of Z-scores for each BCAA) with incident hip fractures and bone mineral density (BMD) of the hip and lumbar spine in older African American and Caucasian men and women in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS).</p><p><b>DESIGN: </b>Longitudinal analyses of association of plasma levels of BCAA with incident hip fractures and cross-sectional BMD of the hip and lumbar spine from the CHS.</p><p><b>SETTING: </b>Community.</p><p><b>PARTICIPANTS: </b>1850 men (38% of cohort) and women; mean age 73.</p><p><b>MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: </b>Incident hip fractures and cross-sectional BMD of the total hip, femoral neck and lumbar spine.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>In fully adjusted models, over 12 years of follow-up, we observed no significant association between incident hip fracture and plasma values of valine, leucine, isoleucine or total BCAA per 1 standard deviation higher of each BCAA. Plasma values of leucine but not valine, isoleucine or total BCAA, were positively and significantly associated with BMD of the total hip (p = 0.03) and femoral neck (p = 0.02), but not the lumbar spine (p = 0.07).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Plasma levels of the BCAA leucine may be associated with higher BMD in older men and women. However, given lack of a significant association with hip fracture risk, further information is needed to determine whether BCAAs would be novel targets for osteoporosis therapies.</p>
DOI10.1210/clinem/dgad275
Alternate JournalJ Clin Endocrinol Metab
PubMed ID37200158
ePub date: 
23/05