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

Abstract

Background: The relationship between bone health and adiposity and how it may be affected in people with chronic metabolic conditions is complex. Methods: Seventeen women with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and nine age-matched healthy women with a median age of 22.6 years (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 (BMA). 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 BMA to the controls, they had higher visceral and subcutaneous adiposity on MRI (P