Factors Affecting Bone Mineral Density in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Objectives: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease, in which autoimmunity has been thought to involve the mucosal barrier, leading to a chronic inflammation and affecting different regions and layers of the gastrointestinal tract. The main types of IBD include ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn’s disease (CD), and indeterminate colitis which often cannot be distinguished from the other ones. The prevalence of reduced bone mineral density (BMD) is higher in patients with IBD than healthy individuals. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the BMD in patients with UC, CD, and in healthy individuals. Methods: A total of 71 IBD patients (21 CD, 50 UC) and 30 age-and sex-matched healthy individuals were included in this prospective study. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was performed to measure BMD of the vertebra and femoral neck. Results: There was no significant difference in the age, sex, and body mass index between the study and control groups (p<0.05). The BMD values were significantly lower in 16 of 21 CD patients (76.2%). A total of 27 patients (54%) with UC had pathological T-scores, indicating borderline significance (p=0.058). The reduction in BMD was not significant between the IBD patients treated with >5 g/day corticosteroids and those treated with ≤5 g/day or treatment-naive patients (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our study results suggest that BMD is significantly lower in IBD patients, particularly in CD patients.