The relationship between adiposity, bone density and microarchitecture is maintained in young women irrespective of diabetes status

Abdalrahaman, N., Mccomb, C., Foster, J.E., Lindsay, R.S. , Drummond, R., McKay, G.A. , Perry, C.G. and Ahmed, S.F. (2017) The relationship between adiposity, bone density and microarchitecture is maintained in young women irrespective of diabetes status. Clinical Endocrinology, 87(4), pp. 327-335. (doi: 10.1111/cen.13410) (PMID:28656591)

Abstract

Background: The relationship between bone health and adiposity and how it may be affected in people with chronic metabolic conditions is complex. Methods: 17 women with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and 9 age-matched healthy women with a median age of 22.6 yrs (range, 17.4, 23.8) were studied by 3T-MRI and MR spectroscopy to assess abdominal adiposity, tibial bone microarchitecture and vertebral bone marrow adiposity. Additional measures included DXA-based assessments of total body (TB), femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LS) bone mineral density (BMD) and fat mass (FM). Results: Although women with T1DM had similar BMI and bone marrow adiposity to the controls, they had higher visceral and subcutaneous adiposity on MRI (p<0.05) and total body FM by DXA (p=0.03). Overall, in the whole cohort, a clear inverse association was evident between bone marrow adiposity and BMD at all sites (p<0.05). These associations remained significant after adjusting for age, BMI, FM, and abdominal adiposity. In addition, visceral adiposity, but not subcutaneous adiposity, showed a positive association with bone marrow adiposity (r,0.4, p=0.03), and a negative association with total body BMD (r,0.5, p=0.02). Apparent trabecular separation as assessed by MRI showed an inverse association to total body BMD by DXA (r,–0.4, p=0.04). Conclusion: Irrespective of the presence of an underlying metabolic condition, young women display a negative relationship between MRI-measured bone marrow adiposity and DXA-based assessment of bone mineral density. Furthermore, an association between bone marrow adiposity and visceral adiposity supports the notion of a common origin of these two fat depots.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lindsay, Dr Robert and ABDALRAHAMAN, Naiemh and Foster, Dr John and Mccomb, Dr Christie and Perry, Dr Colin and Ahmed, Professor Syed Faisal and Drummond, Dr Russell and McKay, Dr Gerard
• Authors: Abdalrahaman, N., Mccomb, C., Foster, J.E., Lindsay, R.S., Drummond, R., McKay, G.A., Perry, C.G., and Ahmed, S.F.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: Clinical Endocrinology
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0300-0664
• ISSN (Online): 1365-2265
• Published Online: 28 June 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 Wiley
• First Published: First published in Clinical Endocrinology 87(4):327-335
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher