Bone mineral density, vitamin D status, and calcium intake in healthy female university students from different socioeconomic groups in Turkey.

Peak bone mass is reached in late adolescence. Low peak bone mass is a well recognized risk factor for osteoporosis later in life. Our data do not support a link between vitamin D status, bone mineral density (BMD), and socioeconomic status (SES). However, there was a marked inadequacy of daily calcium intake and a high presence of osteopenia in females with low SES. PURPOSE: Our aims were to (1) examine the effects of different SES on BMD, vitamin D status, and daily calcium intake and (2) investigate any association between vitamin D status and BMD in female university students. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was used to obtain information about SES, daily calcium intake, and physical activity in 138 healthy, female university students (age range 18-22 years). Subjects were stratified into lower, middle, and higher SES according to the educational and occupational levels of their parents. All serum samples were collected in spring for 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration (25OHD). Lumbar spine and total body BMD was obtained by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan (Lunar DPX series). Osteopenia was defined as a BMD between - 1.0 and - 2.5 standard deviations (SDs) below the mean for healthy young adults on lumbar spine DXA. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the three socioeconomic groups in terms of serum 25OHD concentration, BMD levels, or BMD Z scores (p > 0.05). Both the daily intake of calcium was significantly lower (p = 0.02), and the frequency of osteopenia was significantly higher in girls with low SES (p = 0.02). There was no correlation between serum 25OHD concentration and calcium intake and BMD values and BMD Z scores (p > 0.05). The most important factor affecting BMD was weight (ß = 0.38, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Low SES may be associated with sub-optimal bone health and predispose to osteopenia in later life, even in female university students.

Assessment of alveolar epithelial permeability with Tc-99m DTPA aerosol scintigraphy in patients with Sjogren syndrome.

Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) is a systemic autoimmune disease that mainly affects the exocrine glands and usually presents as persistent dryness of the mouth and eyes. Lung disease in SjS has been reported to occur early following clinical presentation of the disease. In this study, technetium-99m diethylene triamine penta-acetic acid (Tc-99m DTPA) aerosol inhalation scintigraphy was used to assess the pulmonary membrane permeability in patients with primary SjS. A total of 18 patients with primary SjS and 13 healthy controls were investigated. Clinical evaluation, chest X-ray examination, pulmonary function tests, Tc-99m DTPA aerosol scintigraphy were performed in all the cases. The presence of respiratory symptoms (dyspnea and cough), duration of sicca symptoms were recorded. The clearance half time of Tc-99m DTPA radioaerosols in patients with SjS (20.49 +/- 2.56 min) was faster when compared to normal controls (42.32 +/- 13.28 min) (P = 0.000) which means that there is a significant increase in lung permeability in patients with SjS compared to the controls. There is also a significant difference between PI of patients with SjS (0.34 +/- 0.09) and that of controls (0.42 +/- 0.07) (P = 0.012). According to the results of our preliminary study, one can detect pulmonary involvement by Tc-99m DTPA aerosol inhalation scintigraphy in patients with primary SjS.