ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 26 -- Possible strategies aimed at boosting levels of estradiol(Drug information on estradiol) and one of its metabolites are being considered to help prevent osteoarthritis of the knee in women approaching menopause, a study here suggested.
Women near menopause with the lowest levels of circulating estradiol were nearly twice as likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee over a three-year period as women with higher levels of the hormone, reported MaryFran R. Sowers, Ph.D., and colleagues, of the University of Michigan.
Similarly, women with the lowest levels of 2-hydroxyesterone, an estrogen metabolite, were at nearly three times the risk, the researchers said in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
"There has been an ongoing debate as to whether hormone levels contribute to the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis and/or serve as a biomarker of risk for the development of osteoarthritis," the researchers said.
