Introduction and objectives: coeliac disease (CD) and its cutaneous manifestation, dermatitis herpetiformis are both (DH) gluten-sensitive diseases. Metabolic bone disease is common among patients with CD, even in asymptomatic forms. Data are scarce about bone density in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis. The aim of our study was to compare bone mineral density (BMD) of celiac and dermatitis herpetiformis patients.
Methods: 34 coeliac patients, 53 with dermatitis herpetiformis and 42 healthy controls were studied. The mean age was 38.0 +/- 12.1, 32.18 +/- 14.95, 35.33 +/- 10.41 years in CD, dermatitis herpetiformis, and healthy controls, respectively. Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine, the left femoral neck and radius were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Low bone density, osteopenia and osteoporosis were defined as a body mass density (BMD) T-score between 0 and -1, between -1 and -2.5, and under -2.5, respectively.
Results: at lumbar region, consisting of dominantly trabecular compartment, a decreased BMD was detected in 49 % (n = 26) patients with dermatitis herpetiformis, 62 % (n = 21) of CD patients, and 29 % (n = 12) of healthy controls, respectively. Lower BMD were measured at the lumbar region in dermatitis herpetiformis and CD compared to healthy subjects (0.993 +/- 0.136 g/cm2 and 0.880 +/- 0.155 g/cm2 vs. 1.056 +/- 0.126 g/cm2; p < 0.01). Density of bones consisting of dominantly cortical compartment (femoral neck) did not differ in dermatitis herpetiformis and healthy subjects.
Conclusions: our results show that a low bone mass is also frequent among patients with dermatitis herpetiformis. Bone mineral content in these patients is significantly lower in those parts of the skeleton which contain more trabecular than cortical bone.