Pregnancy ‐Related Bone Mineral and Microarchitecture Changes in Women Aged 30 to 45 Years

ABSTRACTAt birth, the neonatal skeleton contains 20 to 30  g calcium (Ca). It is hypothesized maternal bone mineral may be mobilized to support fetal skeletal development, although evidence of pregnancy‐induced mineral mobilization is limited. We recruited healthy pregnant (n = 53) and non ‐pregnant non‐lactating (NPNL;n = 37) women aged 30 to 45  years (mean age 35.4 ± 3.8 years) and obtained peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and high‐resolution pQCT (HR‐pQCT) scans from the tibia and radius at 14 to 16 and 34 to 36 weeks of pregnancy, with a similar scan interval for NPNL. Multiple linear regression models w ere used to assess group differences in change between baseline and follow‐up; differences are expressed as standard deviation scores (SDS) ± SEM. Decreases in volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) outcomes were found in both groups; however, pregnancy‐related decreases for pQCT total and trabecular vBMD were −0.65 ± 0.22 SDS and −0.50 ± 0.23 SDS greater (p <  0.05). HR‐pQCT total and cortical vBMD decreased compared with NPNL by −0.49 ± 0.24 SDS and −0.67 ± 0.23 SDS, respectively; trabecular vBMD decreased in both groups to a similar magnitude. Pregnancy‐related changes in bone microarchitecture significantly exceeded NPNL change for trabecular number (0.47 ± 0.23 SDS), trabecular separation (−0.54 ± 0.24 SDS), cortical thickness (−1.01 ± 0.21 SDS), and cortical ...
Source: Journal of Bone and Mineral Research - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research