Densita ossea e contenuto minerale osseo nell'anoressia nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa (A. Nerv) is a psychiatric disease with major effects on nutritional status, body composition and bone tissue. Thirty-three women with A. Nerv and a restricting dieting behaviour [A. Nerv (mean ± DS): age 21.1 ± 3.4 yrs, weight 40.3 ± 5.7 kg, Body Mass Index - BMI 15.7 ± 1.4 kg/m²) and 33 young healthy women (control group = CTR: age 23.6 ± 3.3 yrs, weight 54.8 ± 6.2 kg, BMI 21.6 ± 2.7 kg/m²)] participated in the study. DXA (Lunar DPX Bone Densitometry), has been utilized to evaluate: 1) Bone Mineral Content (BMC), Lean Mass (LM) and Adipose Mass (AM) for the whole body; 2) Bone Mineral Density (BMD) for the whole skeleton and spine. Whole- body BMC has been found lower (p <0.001) in the A. Nerv group than in the CTR group (BMC: 2.10 ± 0.31 kg vs 2.44 ± 0.26 kg), just as LM and AM. BMD was lower (p <0.01) in the A. Nerv group than in CTR group either for the whole skeleton or spine. In the A. Nerv group BMD for the whole skeleton and spine was directly correlated (p <0.01) with height, weight and BMI. In conclusion, severe bone alterations are frequent in patients with anorexia nervosa and are related to changes in body weight or body mass and therefore to the severity of protein-energy malnutrition.