Evaluation of Serum Alkaline Phosphatase Level in Pre and Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

Background: Serum Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) is the earliest bone marker in postmenopausal women as it plays an important role in bone formation and resorption. ALP is a universal enzyme that has a role in osteoid formation and mineralization of bone. The serum ALP pool consists of several dimeric isoforms that originate from various tissues such as the liver, bone, intestine, spleen, kidney and placenta. Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparative study and carried out in the Department of Physiology, Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi over a period of 12 months from July 2021 to June 2022 on 60 pre and postmenopausal women residing in Rajshahi city. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire and a good laboratory setting. Results: In premenopausal group, all (100%) of the women had normal alkaline phosphatase level. On the other hand, in the postmenopausal group, most (96.7%) of the respondents had normal alkaline phosphatase level and only 3.3% of the respondents had increased alkaline phosphatase level. In both groups, none had decreased alkaline phosphatase level and also in premenopausal group none had increased alkaline phosphatase level. Serum alkaline phosphatase level in postmenopausal women was higher than the premenopausal women and it was statistically highly significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions: As serum alkaline phosphatase is associated with bone formation and resorption, so regular screening of serum ALP in postmenopausal women might be helpful for early detection of postmenopausal osteoporosis.