Quantifying maternal bone loss during pregnancy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determining changes in bone mineral content, shape and microstructure in the trabecular and cortical compartments during pregnancy
IRAS ID
199857
Contact name
Mícheál Ó Breasail
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
MRC Human Nutrition Research
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Bone loss in women begins in their 30's and there is a possibility that the normal postpartum recovery of bone is impaired in older mothers. If bone recovery is impaired, this may be a risk factor for suffering low trauma fractures (osteoporosis) in later life. The aim of this study is to use newly developed measurement methods to assess changes in bone between the early-second and late-third trimesters in pregnant women, aged 30-45. Healthy non-pregnant non-lactating (NPNL) women will be measured as a control group.
This longitudinal, observational study will be based in Cambridge at MRC HNR. We will recruit 50 pregnant and 50 healthy non-pregnant non-lactating women aged 30-45 years. Pregnant women will be recruited from ante-natal scan clinics at the Rosie Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH), and controls from the local community. They will be invited to two visits approximately 20 weeks apart; for the pregnant women this will be between weeks 12-16 and weeks 34-36 of their pregnancy. To investigate changes in bone we will use imaging techniques, peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and high-resolution pQCT (HR-pQCT), that measure the lower leg and forearm and involve very small amounts of ionising radiation which are considered appropriate for use in pregnant women.
This research will help us understand from where bone is lost during pregnancy. We will also compare measured changes between the two groups to see whether skeletal changes during pregnancy are different to age-associated changes. Finally we will investigate predictors of change in the pregnant group such as maternal age and weight gain.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0273
Date of REC Opinion
8 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion