Bone Abstracts

Objective: Serotonin is a neurotransmitter with multiple functions in the gastrointestinal tract and CNS. Recent animal studies indicate that serotonin regulates bone mass and remodelling. In humans, a handful of studies have shown decreased bone mineral density (BMD) in adults treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) for depressive symptoms. Although SSRI’s are prescribed in pediatric practice, there are few studies examining the effect of SSRIs on bone mass in children and young adults. The objective of this study was to examine if SSRI’s are related to BMD in pediatric subjects.

Methods: Cross sectional epidemiologic study utilizing data obtained from 2005 to 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We compared DEXA scan data from subjects taking a single SSRI aged 8–20 years. DEXA information is only available for subjects aged 8 years and older. We then used multivariate regression analysis adjusting for age, gender, height, weight and ethnicity.

Results: Out of 8.838 subjects, we found 92 subjects with valid DEXA data. The mean age of the subjects in the study group was 15 years. SSRI use was revealed to be a negative independent factor on femur BMD (R² =0.49, correlation coefficient =−0.054, P≤0.00) and whole spine BMD (R²=0.64, correlation coefficient =−0.037, P≤0.011).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that SSRI use has a negative impact on BMD in the pediatric and young adult population. Further prospective studies are needed to characterize this effect.