Body composition and bone mineral density in children with premature adrenarche and the association of LRP5 gene polymorphisms with bone mineral density.
Precocious increase in adrenal androgen production is the hallmark of premature adrenarche (PA). Adrenal androgens have anabolic properties.
The objective of the study was to test whether body composition and bone mineral density (BMD) are altered in PA and study whether genetic variation in low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5) affects BMD in PA.
This was a cross-sectional study.
The study was conducted at a university hospital.
The study included 126 prepubertal children (64 with PA, 10 boys; 62 non-PA controls, 10 boys). Femoral neck and lumbar spine areal and calculated volumetric BMD (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry), body composition (bioimpedance), serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and markers of bone turnover and calcium homeostasis were compared between the PA and control groups. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms of LRP5 were determined and associated with BMD.
Children with PA had higher femoral neck and lumbar spine BMD(areal) than the controls (Z-score 0.56 vs. -0.09, P