Int J Colorectal Dis (2006) 21: 758–766 DOI 10.1007/s00384-005-0084-3 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Mohammadreza Zali Ali Bahari Farzad Firouzi Nasser Ebrahimi Daryani Rahim Aghazadeh Mohammad Mehdi Emam Ali Rezaie Hamid Mohaghegh Shalmani Nosratollah Naderi Baharak Maleki Alireza Sayyah Mohammad Bashashati Haniehsadat Jazayeri Shima Zand Accepted: 8 December 2005 Published online: 4 February 2006 # Springer-Verlag 2006 Bone mineral density in Iranian patients with inflammatory bowel disease Abstract Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk of developing osteopenia and osteoporosis. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of de- creased bone density and related risk factors in Iranian IBD patients. A total of 126 ulcerative colitis (UC) and 39 Crohn’ s disease (CD) patients were enrolled. Dual-energy x-ray absorp- tiometry technique was used to mea- sure bone density, and blood samples were obtained to measure biochemical markers. To find predictive variables for bone mineral density (BMD), stepwise regression analysis was car- ried out. A total of 53 IBD patients (32.1%) had diminished bone mineral density at either lumbar spine (L1–L4) or femoral neck. Of these, 9 (5.4%) had osteoporosis; however, 44 (26.7%) were osteopenic. Femoral neck bone density was significantly decreased among CD patients (p<0.04). There was no significant difference in BMD between men and women. We have found significant differences in BMD T scores at lumbar L1–L4, L2–L4, and femoral neck in corticosteroid ever-users (p<0.002, p<0.001, p<0.003, respectively). There was no significant difference in biochemical markers between UC and CD patients, except that more CD patients were hypocalcemic (p<0.001). Stepwise regression anal- ysis has revealed lumbar spine T score was predicted by age (p<0.0001), corticosteroid use (p<0.002), and body mass index (BMI) (p<0.005); however, femoral neck was predicted by age (p<0.0001), BMI (p<0.0001), smoking (p<0.009), and corticosteroid use (p<0.028). Low bone density in Iranian UC and CD patients is in accordance with Western societies. Treatment with corticosteroid has in- creased this possibility in both groups. Corticosteroid use, age, smoking, and BMI are predictive factors for low bone density. Keywords Inflammatory bowel disease . Bone mineral density . Corticosteroid M. Zali . F. Firouzi . R. Aghazadeh . A. Rezaie . H. M. Shalmani . N. Naderi . B. Maleki . A. Sayyah . M. Bashashati . H. Jazayeri . S. Zand Department of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran A. Bahari Department of Gastroenterology, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran N. E. Daryani Department of Gastroenterology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran M. M. Emam Department of Rheumatology, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran F. Firouzi (*) Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease, Taleghani Hospital, Evin, Tehran, Iran e-mail: firouzifar1975@yahoo.com Tel.: +98-21-22122666 Fax: +98-21-22402639