Adipose tissue distribution and metabolic profile of young individuals with turner syndrome

Turner syndrome (TS) is the most common sex chromosome abnormality in females. Incidence of cardiometabolic complications is high in TS. Obesity and high visceral adiposity (VA) are additional risk factors. Body mass index (BMI) is not the best index of adiposity in TS due to short stature. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan and bioelectrical impedance (BI) could be alternatives. The primary objective is to evaluate alternative methods for body composition assessment in youth with TS. The secondary goal is to characterize body composition and metabolic profiles of youth with TS compared with youth without TS.

This is a cross-sectional study. Participants with TS are on ≥50 mcg transdermal estradiol equivalent replacement or spontaneously menstruating. The control group consisted of youth with normal/lean BMI and obese BMI.

Twenty-seven TS, 15 obese, and 15 lean youth were recruited (13-19 years; female). In the TS group, correlation is noted between DXA and BI for fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM), and VA. VA (356.56 +/-225.82 g) and FM (27.06 +/-11.39 g) from DXA were higher for the TS group compared to the lean group's VA (162.66 +/-68.58 g) and FM (19.44 +/-19.47 g), even with comparable LM and total weight. The prevalence of dyslipidemia was 38% in the TS group. The lean group had no dyslipidemia.

Differences in LM, FM, and VA would not have been identified by BMI alone. BI may be a convenient and noninvasive outpatient tool in TS to assess body composition and identify risk factors for metabolic dysfunction, such as low LM and high FM.