Fat tissue stimulates bone growth in children
Posted on: Tuesday, 25 July 2006, 13:25 CDT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Similar to what has been shown in young adults, fat tissue appears to stimulate bone growth in children who have yet to enter puberty, British researchers report. After puberty, this effect is weakened.
In a study reported in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, the fat mass in children was an independent predictor of bone mass and size as well as increases in these parameters over the next 2 years.
There were some reasons to believe that fat tissue in children would have just the opposite effect to what was seen in adults, senior author Dr. J. H. Tobias, from the University of Bristol in the UK, and colleagues note.
In young age groups, fat tissue has been shown to express enzymes that generate estrogen, a known inhibitor of bone growth. In addition, fat tissue may mediate reduced bone growth through increased levels of leptin, a hormone made by fat cells.
Conversely, it is possible that the increased load seen with an elevated fat mass stimulates bone growth, the authors point out.
In studies involving more than 3,000 children with an average age of 9.9 years, Tobias and colleagues found that, even after accounting for height and lean body mass, total body fat mass showed a strong, direct association with bone mass and area.
As noted, the fat mass was also predictive of increases in bone mass and area over the next 2 years.
However, this positive correlation was confined to prepubertal boys and girls. In girls in the throes of puberty, either no association was seen or a negative correlation was noted. A significant interaction between puberty and fat mass was observed.
"Taken together, these observations provide strong evidence that adipose tissue acts to stimulate bone growth in prepubertal children," the authors conclude, whereas the onset of puberty leads to attenuation of the tendency for fat mass to stimulate bone growth.
SOURCE: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism July 2006.
Source: REUTERS
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