Comparison of the Relationship Between Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue and Volumetric Bone Mineral Density in Children and Adults

Several large-scale studies have reported the presence of an inverse relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) in adults. We aim to determine if there is an inverse relationship between pelvic volumetric BMD (vBMD) and pelvic BMAT in children and to compare this relationship in children and adults. Pelvic BMAT and bone volume (BV) was evaluated in 181 healthy children (5-17 yr) and 495 healthy adults (≥18 yr) with whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Pelvic vBMD was calculated using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure pelvic bone mineral content and MRI-measured BV. An inverse correlation was found between pelvic BMAT and pelvic vBMD in both children (r = −0.374, p < 0.001) and adults (r = −0.650, p < 0.001). In regression analysis with pelvic vBMD as the dependent variable and BMAT as the independent variable, being a child or adult neither significantly contribute to the pelvic BMD (p = 0.995) nor did its interaction with pelvic BMAT (p = 0.415). The inverse relationship observed between pelvic vBMD and pelvic BMAT in children extends previous findings that found the inverse relationship to exist in adults and provides further support for a reciprocal relationship between adipocytes and osteoblasts.