Comparison of the Relationship Between Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue and Volumetric Bone Mineral Density in Children and Adults

The Role of Bone Marrow Fat in Skeletal Health: Usefulness and Perspectives for Clinicians

“…In another study including 560 healthy men and women (younger group, age 18.0 -29.9 years; older group, age 50.0 -88 years), Shen et al observed an inverse relationship between BMF and BMD in an anatomically matched region (ie, pelvic BMF and pelvic BMD), a nonanatomically matched region (ie, pelvic BMF and spine BMD), and regional and whole-body (ie, pelvic BMF and whole body BMD), after adjusting for body composition (50). The inverse relationship observed between pelvic BMD and pelvic BMF was also found in children and thus extends previous findings (51,52). Furthermore, it is also important to extend the focus beyond DXA to other bone indices (eg, volumetric BMD using QCT, cortical parameters .…”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Measured Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue Area Is Inversely Related to Cortical Bone Area in Children and Adolescents Aged 5–18 Years

“…Consistent with previous findings for cancellous bone (1–3, 9), our group reported an inverse correlation between bone marrow adipose tissue and bone mineral density in the pelvis, spine, and hip regions in adults and in children, independent of gender and ethnicity (10–14). On the other hand, the relationship between marrow fat and bone at cortical bone sites has been reported in very few studies (15–17).…”

“…Previous studies reported an inverse association between bone and marrow fat in the elderly, young adults, and children (1–3, 9–14). These results support the notion that competition exists between adipogenesis and osteoblastogenesis during the bone loss stage, the peak bone mass stage, and the bone accruing stage (13, 14).…”

“…The present study is an analysis of pre-existing data as previously reported (14, 24, 25). The participants were 185 healthy children and adolescents, aged 5–18 years.…”

“…The participants were 185 healthy children and adolescents, aged 5–18 years. These subjects were recruited through local advertisement for two studies that were originally designed to collect body composition data in healthy children and adolescents (14, 24, 25). Candidates for this study underwent screening of medical history, physical examination, and blood tests.…”