A 2-year longitudinal study of bone health in adolescent patients with axial spondyloarthritis

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that primarily affects the axial skeleton and typically has an early onset. Although earlier onset is associated with worse prognosis, there have been few studies of bone mineral density (BMD) in adolescent patients with axSpA.

We analysed the clinical characteristics of 43 adolescent patients with axSpA at a baseline assessment and at a follow-up 2 years later. The baseline assessment included age, disease duration, treatment agents, and clinical, radiologic, and laboratory data. BMD of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry during both the baseline assessment and the 2-year follow-up. We performed multivariate linear regression analyses to identify factors independently associated with BMD. We analysed the associations between changes in BMD and reductions in inflammatory markers.

The average age of participants was 17.9 years and the mean disease duration was 2.2 years. Of the 43 patients, 10 (23%) had low BMD at any site (lumbar spine, femoral neck, and/or total hip). At baseline, multivariate analysis showed that body mass index (BMI), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and spinal structural damage were associated with lumbar spine Z-scores. Increases in BMD in the lumbar spine were correlated with reductions in ESR (r = 0.40, P = 0.02) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (r = 0.40, P = 0.02). Increases in BMD in the total hip were correlated with reductions in CRP (r = 0.38, P = 0.03).

In adolescent axSpA patients, bone health was associated with systemic inflammation and the severity of structural damage. Reduced systemic inflammation was associated with improvements in bone health.