Influence of lactose intolerance and physical activity level on bone mineral density in young women

Abstract

The aim of this study was to verify the effect of physical activity level on bone mineral density (BMD) in pre-menopausal women with lactose intolerance. Sixty women was engaged in this study (age: 31.9±6.9 years) and were initially separated into two groups: 30 women with lactose intolerance (LI) and 30 controls (C). The groups were further subdivided into less and more active using the median of weekly total energy expenditure, estimated by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-long version). The LI diagnosis was confirmed by lactose intolerance test (oral lactose overload with monitoring of blood glucose and associated clinical manifestations). BMD was assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). As expected, physical activity score was higher in both groups for women classified as more active (p>0.05). The BMD at hip and pelvis was lower in LI than in C group (p<0.05). In addition, there was a tendency for a lower BMD in L2, L4, femoral neck and total hip for LI compared to C group (p<0.10). However, there was no main effect of physical activity level or interaction for the BMD at any other bone sites (p<0.10). The LI group had lower (p<0.05) absolute free-fat mass, independently of physical activity level. Therefore, the results of the present study suggest that LI reduces BMD in pre-menopausal women and this reduction is independent of physical activity level.