Appendicular Tissue at Diagnosis and at Follow Up in Women Over 50y With Coeliac Disease

Coeliac disease (CD) affects lean, fat and bone composition in the limbs. Many studies compare CD patients with controls who are inappropriate in relation to weight, sex, and age. Thus, although CD patients may have deficiency of appendicular lean and bone, whether this applies when these variables are controlled is uncertain. Following diagnosis, it also remains uncertain whether lean and bone increase or decline. Forty-four female CD patients aged 50-79 yr at diagnosis were age and weight matched with 44 healthy controls. Fifteen CD patients were followed up after 7.5 ± 2.7 yr. Body composition and spine and hip Bone Mineral Content (BMC) were measured using DXA. Changes after 7.5 yr were compared with initial data and with data corrected for expected losses of lean and bone. At diagnosis BMC was low in both upper and lower limbs (p < 0.0001), lean was low in the upper limb (p < 0.03) and fat content was similar. BMC z scores were lower in the lower limbs than in axial sites (p< 0.02). At follow up lean when corrected for expected loss had not declined; only fat increased. BMC was unchanged but all patients had received bone active agents. If the expected decline in BMC were accounted for, BMC was greater than expected in both upper and lower limbs (p < 0.004). Appendicular Lean mass is not low in CD and does not change on treatment. BMC at diagnosis is lowest at the lower limb and may be worth measuring in women of this age to alert to the possibility of CD. BMC does not decline after treatment. If allowance is made for expected bone loss BMC increases slightly, but it would take about 15 yr to achieve the age related mean.