Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the bone mineral density (BMD) and muscle mass between ambulatory women with multiple sclerosis (MS) and control subjects and to examine the influence of motor disability, muscle mass and/or glucocorticoids (GC) use on BMD.

Methods: Body composition and BMD were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 250 ambulatory MS women (153 premenopausal and 97 postmenopausal women) with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ≤6.5 and in 193 controls.

Results: Compared to controls, patients had significantly lower values for total body bone mineral content and BMD at all measured sites except for the distal radius. Patients with MS had significantly lower amount of total muscle mass as well as total leg muscle mass when compared to the control group. The EDSS score was negatively associated with BMD at the proximal femur in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women, while the deficit of total body muscle mass was significantly associated with a loss of BMD at the lumbar spine and whole body BMD only in premenopausal women. GC treatment was negatively associated with BMD at the lumbar spine in premenopausal women.

Conclusion: The total body muscle mass was an important predictive factor for the total body BMD and the lumbar spine BMD in premenopausal women with MS. Further prospective studies are required to verify the protective influence of muscle mass on BMD in patients with MS and to assess the role of systemic factors modulating the bone-muscle relationship (e.g. estrogen deficiency).

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This work was supported, however, funding details unavailable.