The relationship between dietary acid load and bone metabolism markers in Tehranian elderly

Few studies have reported the association between dietary acid load with increased fractures and osteoporosis, which results in of these studies are contradictory. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of dietary acid load based on PRAL (potential renal acid load) and NEAP (net endogenous acid production) score with bone health markers in the elderly.
172 elderlies (122 female and 50 male) participated in this cross-sectional study. In this study, PRAL and NEAP scores were investigated. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate dietary intake. Height and weight of patients were measured. Measurement of serum osteocalcin and CTX (C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen) of urine, parathormone, hs-CRP (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) and 25 hydroxyvitamin D were performed according to commercial kits guidelines. SPSS v. 23 software was used for regression with a significance level of 0.05.
The present study showed that the PRAL had a positive and significant correlation with body weight and waist circumference in linear regression (p=0.034). There was no significant statistical relationship between other variables. Among of bone metabolism markers, only CTX-I indicated significant difference between NEAP tertiles. Thus, in the highest tertile of NEAP (tertile3=18.13±1.86) concentration of CTX- I declined (tertile 1=16.63±1.95 and tertile2=26.45±1.95) (p= 0.001).
It seems that high dietary acid intake can not be a threat to bone loss and osteoporosis in the elderly.