New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center, St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital and Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University, New York, NY 10025, USA.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 Sep;66(9):983-8. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2012.35. Epub 2012 Apr 11.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Recent research has shown an inverse relationship between bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) and bone mineral density (BMD). There is a lack of evidence at the macro-imaging level to establish whether increased BMAT is a cause or effect of bone loss. This cross-sectional study compared the BMAT and BMD relationship between a younger adult group at or approaching peak bone mass (PBM; age 18.0-39.9 years) and an older group with potential bone loss (PoBL; age 40.0-88.0 years).
SUBJECTS/METHODS: Pelvic BMAT was evaluated in 560 healthy men and women with T1-weighted whole-body magnetic resonance imaging. BMD was measured using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
An inverse correlation was observed between pelvic BMAT and pelvic, total and spine BMD in the younger PBM group (r=-0.419 to -0.461, P<0.001) and in the older PoBL group (r=-0.405 to -0.500, P<0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, menopausal status, total body fat, skeletal muscle, subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue, neither subject group (younger PBM vs older PoBL) nor its interaction with pelvic BMAT significantly contributed to the regression models with BMD as dependent variable and pelvic BMAT as independent variable (P=0.434-0.928).
Our findings indicate that an inverse relationship between pelvic BMAT and BMD is present both in younger subjects who have not yet experienced bone loss and also in older subjects. These results provide support at the macro-imaging level for the hypothesis that low BMD may be a result of preferential differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells from osteoblasts to adipocytes.
背景/目的：最近的研究表明骨髓脂肪组织（BMAT）与骨密度（BMD）之间呈负相关。在宏观影像学水平上缺乏证据来确定增加的 BMAT 是骨丢失的原因还是结果。这项横断面研究比较了处于或接近峰值骨量（PBM；年龄 18.0-39.9 岁）的年轻成年组和有潜在骨丢失（PoBL；年龄 40.0-88.0 岁）的老年组之间的 BMAT 和 BMD 关系。
受试者/方法：使用 T1 加权全身磁共振成像评估 560 名健康男性和女性的骨盆 BMAT。使用全身双能 X 射线吸收法测量 BMD。
在年轻的 PBM 组（r=-0.419 至-0.461，P<0.001）和老年 PoBL 组（r=-0.405 至-0.500，P<0.001）中，骨盆 BMAT 与骨盆、总骨和脊柱 BMD 呈负相关。在调整年龄、性别、种族、绝经状态、全身脂肪、骨骼肌、皮下和内脏脂肪组织后，两个研究组（年轻的 PBM 组与老年的 PoBL 组）及其与骨盆 BMAT 的交互作用均未显著增加 BMD 作为因变量和骨盆 BMAT 作为自变量的回归模型（P=0.434-0.928）。
我们的研究结果表明，在尚未经历骨丢失的年轻受试者和老年受试者中，骨盆 BMAT 与 BMD 之间均存在负相关。这些结果在宏观影像学水平上为低 BMD 可能是成骨细胞向脂肪细胞的间充质干细胞优先分化的结果这一假说提供了支持。
