Clinical trial NCT00022867: Encouraging Calcium Absorption and Bone Formation During Early Puberty
Official title: Optimization of Calcium Absorption and Bone Formation During Early Puberty
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE1
PHASE2
Conditions: Osteoporosis
Osteopenia
Keywords: Bone growth
Calcium
Children
Diet
Puberty
Lead sponsor: Baylor College of Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
First posted: 2001-08-16
Enrollment: 100
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 9
Maximum age (years): 12
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Increasing bone mass during puberty can ultimately decrease the risk of developing osteoporosis, which causes bones to weaken and break more easily later in life. The purpose of this study is to compare calcium absorption and bone growth in boys and girls on diets including either a nondigestible oligosaccharide (NDO) or simple sugar.

Detailed description: Rapid increases in bone mass occur during calcium absorption and bone calcium deposition during puberty, and these increases can enhance peak bone mass and ultimately decrease the lifetime risk of osteoporosis. However, dietary, hormonal, and genetic factors likely affect increased bone mass. This study will examine if adding NDO to a pubertal diet allows more absorption of calcium by the body, producing stronger bones. The study will also assess how the hormones produced by the body during puberty affect bone growth and whether genetic factors affect calcium absorption or bone growth.

This study will last 2 years. At study entry, baseline pubertal hormone levels and bone mass will be assessed. Both a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan and a calcium stable kinetic study measuring calcium absorption will be performed. Participants will then be randomly assigned to receive calcium fortified food with or without added NDO for 1 year. Calcium absorption will be measured again at 2 months. After the first year, calcium kinetic, hormonal, and DEXA studies will be performed and compared to baseline results. A final DEXA scan will be performed at the end of 2 years.

Eligibility criteria: * Tanner Stage 2 or 3
* Girls must not have started menstruating
* In the 10th to 90th percentile in body mass index (BMI) for their age

Primary outcomes:
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Houston
country: United States
facility: Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine
name: Steven A. Abrams, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Abrams SA, O'Brien KO. Calcium and bone mineral metabolism in children with chronic illnesses. Annu Rev Nutr. 2004;24:13-32. doi: 10.1146/annurev.nutr.24.012003.132135.
citation: Abrams SA, Griffin IJ, Hawthorne KM, Liang L, Gunn SK, Darlington G, Ellis KJ. A combination of prebiotic short- and long-chain inulin-type fructans enhances calcium absorption and bone mineralization in young adolescents. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Aug;82(2):471-6. doi: 10.1093/ajcn.82.2.471.
citation: Abrams SA, Griffin IJ, Hawthorne KM, Gunn SK, Gundberg CM, Carpenter TO. Relationships among vitamin D levels, parathyroid hormone, and calcium absorption in young adolescents. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Oct;90(10):5576-81. doi: 10.1210/jc.2005-1021. Epub 2005 Aug 2.
citation: Abrams SA, Griffin IJ, Hawthorne KM, Chen Z, Gunn SK, Wilde M, Darlington G, Shypailo RJ, Ellis KJ. Vitamin D receptor Fok1 polymorphisms affect calcium absorption, kinetics, and bone mineralization rates during puberty. J Bone Miner Res. 2005 Jun;20(6):945-53. doi: 10.1359/JBMR.050114. Epub 2005 Jan 31.