Bone Metabolism in Cerebral Palsy and the Effect of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Irradiation.

In recent years, through the availability of examination by bone metabolism markers, diagnosis and treatment for osteoporosis in elderly people has been greatly advanced. However, bone metabolism in cases of cerebral palsy has not been fully examined. Though children with cerebral palsy tend to be susceptible to insufficiency fractures, a method of treatment for insufficiency fractures has not been established. In the longitudinal progress of bone metabolism, although there was a difference depending on the severity, reduced bone resorption tended to be mild but osteo-genesis tended to decrease in the severe cases. Osteogenesis and bone resorption markers decreased at around ages 8 and 15. The bone resorption marker maintained mild advancement after age 15. With LED irradiation, all of IGF-1, ucOC, osteogenic marker; BAP, and urinary bone resorption marker; NTx/Cr showed a tendency to normalize. In particular, IGF-1, BAP, and NTx/Cr increased significantly one month after irradiation, compared to the non-irradiation group. Bone density assessed by the DIP method showed no apparent change in the short term either. Irradiation by a commercial LED light bulb indicated a possible positive effect on bone metabolism for children with severe cerebral palsy.