Bone resorption and environmental exposure to cadmium in women: a population study.

Background: Environmental exposure to cadmium decreases bone density indirectly through hypercalciuria resulting from renal tubular dysfunction.

Objective: We sought evidence for a direct osteotoxic effect of cadmium in women.

Methods: We randomly recruited 294 women (mean age, 49.2 years) from a Flemish population with environmental cadmium exposure. We measured 24-hr urinary cadmium and blood cadmium as indexes of lifetime and recent exposure, respectively. We assessed the multivariate-adjusted association of exposure with specific markers of bone resorption, urinary hydroxylysylpyridinoline (HP) and lysylpyridinoline (LP), as well as with calcium excretion, various calciotropic hormones, and forearm bone density.

Results: In all women, the effect sizes associated with a doubling of lifetime exposure were 8.4% (p=0.009) for HP, 6.9% (p=0.10) for LP, 0.77 mmol/day (p=0.003) for urinary calcium, -0.009 g/cm(2) (p=0.055) for proximal forearm bone density, and -16.8% (p=0.065) for serum parathyroid hormone. In 144 postmenopausal women, the corresponding effect sizes were -0.01223 g/cm(2) (p=0.008) for distal forearm bone density, 4.7% (p=0.064) for serum calcitonin, and 10.2% for bone-specific alkaline phosphatase. In all women, the effect sizes associated with a doubling of recent exposure were 7.2% (p=0.001) for urinary HP, 7.2% (p=0.021) for urinary LP, -9.0% (p=0.097) for serum parathyroid hormone, and 5.5% (p=0.008) for serum calcitonin. Only one woman had renal tubular dysfunction (urinary retinol-binding protein >338 microg/day).

Conclusions: In the absence of renal tubular dysfunction, environmental exposure to cadmium increases bone resorption in women, suggesting a direct osteotoxic effect with increased calciuria and reactive changes in calciotropic hormones.