Soft Tissue and Bone Development in Young Girls (STAR)

Obesity and Bone Development in Young Girls

Obesity during adolescence, a critical time for bone development, may impair mineral accrual and reduce bone strength, leading to greater fracture risk during adolescence and later in life. This study seeks to determine the effect of obesity and accompanying metabolic changes (insulin resistance and inflammation) on bone mineral accrual and related changes in structure and strength in young girls. The information is critical to developing effective prevention strategies to counter the linked risks of obesity and osteoporosis, both major public health concerns.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Detailed Description

The pediatric obesity epidemic continues unabated. Its cardio-metabolic complications are undisputed, including inflammation, insulin resistance (IR), glucose intolerance and greater prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in youth. We contend an equally serious consequence of these obesity co-morbidities is their detrimental effects on bone development during adolescence, a critical time for mineral accrual and architectural modeling that underlies bone strength and fracture risk. This proposition has received little attention and the sparse results are mixed, with reports of augmented and impaired mineralization. In contrast, animal data demonstrates reduced mineral accrual and compromised architecture with insulin resistance and chronic inflammation. The conflicting results in youth are likely due to mixed samples and analyses that commingle obese youth with metabolic complications with so called metabolically healthy obese youth and the use of technology (i.e., dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, DXA) to measure bone outcomes that is confounded by the very changes that investigators seek to detect. We posit that the positive mechanical effect of excess adiposity on bone is countered by chronic low-grade inflammation and IR so that obese youth with these metabolic complications suffer impaired bone development whereas obesity in otherwise metabolically healthy youth augments development. A thorough understanding of the effects of adiposity and its co-morbidities on bone development is crucial to the development of efficacious interventions aimed at maximal mineral accrual and bone modeling. Thus, we propose primary aims designed to clarify the effects of obesity, insulin resistance and inflammation on bone around the time of peak height velocity. Adipose tissue (AT) distribution undoubtedly matters, especially abdominal visceral AT and skeletal muscle fat content, both strongly related to insulin resistance. Failure to characterize fat distribution is another important limitation of past studies. Consequently we will assess the effect of visceral AT and skeletal muscle fat along with whole body fatness and propose secondary aims designed to develop safe, cost effective methods that we and others can use for estimating AT distribution, a critical component of risk that has rarely been studied in youth relative to bone development.

Primary Aims:

  1. Assess the associations of total and regional adiposity (visceral AT and leg muscle fat content), insulin resistance, and inflammation with bone mass, density, structure and strength in normal weight, overweight, and obese pre-menarcheal girls
  2. Assess the effects of total and regional adiposity, insulin resistance, and inflammation on bone development (i.e., 2 year changes in bone parameters) in normal weight and obese pre-menarcheal girls.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

450

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

    • Arizona
      • Tucson, Arizona, United States, 85714
        • Recruiting
        • University of Arizona, Nutritional Sciences Department
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

9 years to 12 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Girls across obese (n=150; BMI ≥95th age and gender-specific percentile), overweight (n=150; BMI> 85th percentile and <95th percentile), and normal weight (n=150; BMI< 85th percentile) categories.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • healthy, female, aged 9-12 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • diagnosis of diabetes
  • taking medications that alter body composition and bone mineral accrual
  • physical disability that limits physical activity
  • learning disability that would limit completion of questionnaires

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Bone development
Time Frame: 2 years
Baseline cross-sectional (N=450) and longitudinal changes over 2 years (N=150) in bone mass, density, structure and strength, measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), as they relate to body composition by DXA and blood biomarkers of insulin resistance and inflammation.
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Scott B Going, PhD, University of Arizona

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2017

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 11, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 12, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

January 13, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 26, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 23, 2016

Last Verified

September 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HD74565

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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