Idiopathic osteoporosis in premenopausal women

Although osteoporosis predominantly affects older postmenopausal women, low bone mineral density also occurs in men and younger women. In men, it is often unexplained by recognized secondary causes. These men with idiopathic osteoporosis have reductions in serum IGF-I as well as indices of reduced bone formation. Younger women also experience bone loss of unknown etiology (IOP). Whether premenopausal women with IOP have similar decreases in IGF-I levels and reduced indices of bone formation is unknown. We prospectively evaluated a group of premenopausal women with unexplained low bone mass and compared them to normal premenopausal women with respect to serum concentrations of IGF-I. Thirteen premenopausal women (34.2+/-2.3 years) with low bone density (mean lumbar spine T-score -2.26+/-0.20) were compared with 13 premenopausal women (35.7+/-1.7 years) with normal bone density of similar age, height and ethnic composition. Body mass index (BMI) was lower in subjects than controls (20.5+/-0.7 versus 25.2+/-1.1 kg/m(2), P