Use of the plasma CTX for assessing the bone activity of the mandible among osteopenic and osteoporotic patients.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the plasma CTX bone remodeling marker is useful for indicating the bone metabolic activity level of the mandible. Thirty-six patients were selected; all were postmenopausal and aged 50 years or over. In accordance with the WHO criteria for osteoporosis, a control group was set up (n = 10) in which the T-score was greater than -1 and a diseased group with T-score less than -1. Using MDP-(99m)Tc samples, the radioisotope uptake in the femoral neck (R(2)) and mandibular body (R(1)) was analyzed. A third examination was performed using the plasma CTX biochemical bone-modeling marker. The inferential results for the diseased group showed that Ln(R(1)) presented a statistically significant linear relationship with Ln(CTx) (p = 0.067) and with the T-score (p = 0.018). The plasma CTX bone remodeling marker is useful for monitoring the bone metabolic activity of the mandible.