Young Adult Male Patients with Childhood-onset IBD Have Increased Risks of Compromised Cortical and Trabecular Bone Microstructures

Abstract

Background: Young adults with childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have increased risks of low areal bone mineral density and low skeletal muscle mass. Volumetric BMD (vBMD), bone geometry and microstructures, in addition to possible associations with skeletal muscle index (SMI) and physical exercise have been scarcely studied in this patient group. Patients and methods: In total, 49 young adult male patients with childhood-onset IBD and 245 age-and height-matched young adult male controls were scanned with high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Bone geometry, vBMD, and bone microstructures were calculated as median values and compared between the patients and controls. Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to determine the independent associations among IBD diagnosis, SMI (kg/m2), and physical exercise. Results: The group of young adult patients had, in comparison with the controls, significantly smaller median cortical area (126.1 mm2 vs151.1 mm2, P