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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1456679
This article is part of the Research Topic Rare Diseases: From Basic Science to Clinical Practice and Public Health View all 6 articles

Bone mineral density determinants in adolescents and young adults with congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Provisionally accepted
Ruta Navardauskaite Ruta Navardauskaite 1,2*Aurika Vanckaviciene Aurika Vanckaviciene 3
  • 1 Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
  • 2 Department of Endocrinology, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania, Kaunas, Lithuania
  • 3 Faculty of Nursing, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The effects of long-term glucocorticoid (GC) treatment on bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) remain controversial.Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate BMD in relation to genotype, growth, vitamin D status, cumulative GC doses, and other relevant factors in youth with CAH.Methods: Thirty-two patients with classical CAH (13 males; mean age 26.0 ± 7.1 years) were compared with 32 healthy controls matched by age and sex. BMD was measured using dual-energy Xray absorptiometry (DXA), and statistical analyses, including the Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's correlation coefficient, were performed to evaluate differences and associations.Results: Median whole-body and lumbar BMD Z-scores were similar between CAH patients and controls (p = 0.27, p = 0.15, respectively). Low bone density was observed in 12.5% of CAH patients and 18.75% of controls (p = 0.5), while osteoporosis was confirmed in 12.5% of CAH patients and 0% Navardauskaite R., et al.of controls (p = 0.04). BMD did not correlate with cumulative GC doses, estradiol, renin, phosphate, sodium levels, or anthropometric parameters in CAH patients. There was no significant difference in BMD between severe and non-severe genotypes of CAH. However, a positive correlation was found between whole-body BMD Z-score and growth velocity during infancy (r = 0.776, p = 0.021) in CAH patients. Vitamin D deficiency was noted in 56.25% of CAH patients, although vitamin D levels did not correlate with BMD or genotype. No history of bone fractures was reported among study participants.Conclusions: Patients with CAH are at risk of developing osteoporosis, but in this study, BMD Zscores were not associated with cumulative GC doses. The study did not identify an association between genotype and BMD. Poor growth during infancy was linked to decreased BMD in adulthood.

    Keywords: congenital adrenal hyperplasia1, CaH2, bone health3, bone mineral density4, transition age5

    Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Navardauskaite and Vanckaviciene. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ruta Navardauskaite, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

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