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Bone mass in male and female children and adolescents with Down syndrome

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Abstract

Summary

Children and adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) have lower levels of bone mass compared with youths without DS. Their sexual dimorphism in bone mass also differs from that observed in children and adolescents without Down syndrome.

Introduction

This study aimed to compare bone mass and sexual dimorphism in bone mass between male and female youths with DS and age- and sex-matched controls without DS.

Methods

Bone mineral density (BMD), volumetric BMD, bone mineral apparent density (BMAD), BMD/height (BMDH), and total lean mass were measured or calculated from DXA. Thirty-two youths (15 females) with DS and 32 youths (13 females) without DS participated in the study.

Results

ANOVA tests showed lower BMAD and BMDH in females with DS compared with females without DS. ANCOVA tests revealed lower BMD in the whole body of males and females as well as BMD in the hip region of the females with DS compared with their counterparts without DS. Within the group with DS, females had greater lumbar spine BMD than the males.

Conclusions

The low values of BMD and related parameters, together with the differences in the sexual dimorphism, indicate a non-standard bone development in this specific population of children and adolescents with DS.

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Acknowledgment

The authors want to thank all the children and their parents who participated in the study, for their understanding and dedication to the project. Special thanks are given to Fundación Down Zaragoza and Special Olympics Aragon for their support. We also thank Scott G. Mitchell from the University of Glasgow for his work of reviewing the English style and grammar, and Paula Velasco from the University of Zaragoza for her great technical assistance. This work was supported by Gobierno de Aragón (Proyecto PM 17/2007) and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España (Red de investigación en ejercicio físico y salud para poblaciones especiales-EXERNET-DEP2005-00046/ACTI). There are no potential conflicts of interest that may affect the contents of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) research group, University of Zaragoza, Ed. Cervantes. Corona de Aragón St. 42, 2nd floor, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain

    A. González-Agüero, G. Vicente-Rodríguez, L. A. Moreno & J. A. Casajús

  2. Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, Huesca, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    A. González-Agüero, G. Vicente-Rodríguez & J. A. Casajús

  3. School of Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    L. A. Moreno

Authors
  1. A. González-Agüero
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  2. G. Vicente-Rodríguez
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  3. L. A. Moreno
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  4. J. A. Casajús
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. A. Casajús.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Table 3 Mean and standard deviation in raw values of bone mineral density of children and adolescents with and without Down syndrome
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González-Agüero, A., Vicente-Rodríguez, G., Moreno, L.A. et al. Bone mass in male and female children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Osteoporos Int 22, 2151–2157 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-010-1443-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-010-1443-7

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