Correlates of bone resorption marker C-Telopeptide of type-I collagen for rural postmenopausal women in Zuturung, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Bone loss in postmenopausal women is majorly due to estrogen deficiency. The objective of this study was to determine correlates of serum C-Terminal Telopeptides of Type I Collagen levels (Ctx), a bone resorption marker, in rural postmenopausal women as compared with their premenopausal counterparts. The study was carried out on 38 premenopausal and 75 postmenopausal women in Zuturung, Kaduna state, Nigeria. Subjects were selected, questionnaires were administered to them, anthropometric parameters were determined and fasting blood samples were collected by venipuncture. The blood samples were centrifuged and the samples stored for further analysis using standard methods in the Department of Chemical Pathology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika. Results were presented as mean ± SD, data were analyzed using student t test, and a p value of <0.05 considered to be significant while associations between variables were determined by Pearsons’ correlation using SPSS version 23. The postmenopausal subjects had reduced mean serum calcium (2.30±0.35mg/dL), decreased mean serum Ctx (135.20±42.90ng/mL) and a longer mean waist circumference (89.63±10.66cm) as compared with the premenopausal women (2.37±0.15mg/dL, 155.90±88.70ng/mL & 83.73±8.00cm respectively). While the waist circumference demonstrated a negative correlation with mean serum Ctx that however was not significant (p>0.05). The mean serum Ctx of postmenopausal women with different educational status of the postmenopausal women showed no significant difference. In conclusion, rural postmenopausal women had a lower mean serum calcium and mean serum C-tx (a bone resorption marker) than premenopausal women. They also presented with a longer waist circumference, a negative correlation of their waist circumference with the mean serum Ctx with an equally no significant difference in mean Ctx level in their respective educational status.