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Hormone and Bone Mineral Status in Endurance-Trained and Sedentary Postmenopausal Women^*

Human Physiology Laboratory (M.E.N., C.N.M., W.J.E.) and the Calcium and Bone Metabolism Laboratory (B.D.-H.), United States Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University Boston, Massachusetts 02111

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: William J. Evans, Ph.D., Human Physiology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, 711 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111.

Serum hormone levels and bone mineral status were studied in 18 sedentary and 15 endurance-trained postmenopausal women (mean age, 62 yr). The endurance-trained women had lower body weight, lower body fat, and higher aerobic capacity than the sedentary women (P < 0.05). There were no differences in current calcium intake between the 2 groups, as assessed by a 7-day food record, but carbohydrate intake (grams per kg BW) was higher in the endurance-trained women (P < 0.001). Bone mineral density (BMD) of the spine (L₁–L₃), proximal femur, and radius did not differ between the 2 groups; however, when normalized for body weight, the BMDs of the spine and radius were higher in the endurance-trained than in the sedentary women. Serum estrone and PTH levels were lower, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and somatomedin-C levels were higher in the endurance-trained than in the sedentary women. Serum GH tended to be higher in the endurance-trained than in the sedentary women (P + 0.08), and there was a postexercise increase in serum GH in the endurance-trained, but not in the sedentary, women (P < 0.01). The major effect of habitual exercise was on body weight and hormone status. Although leanness and low serum estrone levels are risk factors for osteoporosis, these were not associated with lower BMD in endurancetrained women. Endurance-trained women may have improved calcium absorption as a result of higher carbohydrate intake and higher serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels.

^* This work was supported by the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, and a grant from the National Dairy Board, administered in cooperation with the National Dairy Council.

Received June 20, 1987.

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