Coronary Calcification Is Reversely Related with Bone and Hair Calcium: The Relationship among Different Calcium Pools in Body

BACKGROUND With aging, calcium efflux from bone is increased with age-related bone loss, and it can reduce bone mineral density (BMD). On the contrary, age-related calcium adoption into arterial wall progressively stiffens blood vessels. Theses process insinuates shift of calcium among different pools in body. However, their relationships have not been elucidated yet. So we investigated the correlation among calcium contents in different body pools, such as hair, bone, and blood vessels in women. METHODS We analyzed 50 females retrospectively who measured Agatston coronary artery calcium score (CACS), BMD, and hair calcium concentration at a regular health check-up in a university hospital. CACS was achieved by coronary multidetector computed tomography, BMD was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in the lumbar spine and femur, and hair calcium level was checked by hair tissue mineral analysis. RESULTS CACS inversely correlated with BMD (r=-0.280, P=0.049 with lumbar vertebrae 1-4, r=-0.310, P=0.028 with femur neck, r=-0.333, P=0.018 with femur total) and hair calcium concentration (r=-0.352, P=0.012). CONCLUSIONS CACS has negative correlation with BMD and hair calcium level in women. Different body calcium pools such as bone, hair and blood vessel significantly correlated each other.