Gene Reveals High-Risk Osteoporosis Group

About one in five people carry a variant of a gene that may increase their risk for osteoporosis, researchers report. When found in women, a variant of the CYP1A1 gene appears to speed the breakdown of the female hormone estrogen, which normally helps protect women against bone loss. Women with the gene mutation were more prone to with low bone density at the hips, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The study appears in the February issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. There are several variations of the CYP1A1 gene, which makes a enzyme that detoxifies foreign substances in the body and also breaks down estrogen as part of maintaining proper estrogen balance.