Background/Purpose: Optimal diet is important for bone health. Low protein intake is prevalent among individuals hospitalized for hip fractures. Studies in the aging mouse model have shown that aromatic amino acids (AAA) (tryptophan, tyrosine, phenylalanine) may help promote bone formation, thus implicating a possible role in the prevention and management of osteoporosis and fragility fractures. The objective of this study was to examine the association of dietary intakes of AAA with incident hip fracture, bone mineral density (BMD) and measures of body composition in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS)

Methods: The 5,187 CHS participants who completed food frequency questionnaires in 1989-1990, from which mean daily intakes of AAA were estimated, were included in the hip fracture analysis. Subsequent hip fractures were defined by a hospital discharge International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9), code 820.xx. 1,591 of these subjects had a DXA scan from 1994-1995 and were included in analyses on BMD and body composition (percent and total fat mass, percent and total lean mass, and total body mass), all modeled as continuous variables. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of incident hip fracture associated with each dietary AAA. In the sub cohort with BMD measurements, linear regression analysis was used to estimate the association between dietary AAA and total hip BMD and body composition measures.

Results: During a median follow-up of 13 years, 725 (14%) of 5,187 subjects had an incident hip fracture (1.09 per 100 person-years). The mean intake of tryptophan was 1.1 g/day; phenylalanine, 4.3 mg/day; and tyrosine, 3.5 mg/day. In multivariable models adjusted for demographics, health history (including lifestyle measures), medication use, cystatin C and diet (calcium, vitamin D, protein, and energy), neither tryptophan, tyrosine, nor phenylalanine were significantly associated with incident hip fractures ((HR=0.14; 95%CI 0.01, 1.89), (HR=0.59; 95%CI 0.27, 1.32), and (HR=0.6; 95%CI 0.23, 1.55), respectively), total hip BMD (p≥0.06) or any measure of body composition (p≥0.10).

Conclusion: In this cohort of older community dwelling adults, dietary intake of AAA was not significantly associated with incident hip fracture, hip BMD or body composition.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/the-association-of-dietary-amino-acids-with-incident-hip-fracture-bmd-and-body-composition-the-cardiovascular-health-study/