The Evaluation of Bone Mineral Density in Male and Postmenopausal Female Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

ABSTRACT
The effect of Type 2 diabetes mellitus on bone metabolism and bone mineral density is a controversial topic. Epidemiological studies show in part discrepant results: bone mass has been reported to be diminished or unchanged. The objective of this study was to assess the changes in bone mineral density (BMD) in male and postmenopausal female patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. This prospective study was performed in the Departments of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and of Nuclear Medicine of Erciyes University Medical School Hospital. One hundred consecutive patients (43 males and 57 females aged 57.4±9.7 years) with Type 2 diabetes, and 30 healthy volunteers (12 males and 18 females aged 55.4±7.2 years) were included in the study. We examined BMD with dual-energy X-ray absorbtiometry (DXA) technique at the lumbar and femoral levels and we also measured the levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Additionally the influences of age, sex, duration of diabetes, body mass index (BMI) and menopause were evaluated. We found that BMD values were lower in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus than control subjects in all regions (p<0.001) and also found that female patients have a greater risk of bone loss compared with male patients (p<0.001). Moreover, age adjusted BMD values were significantly lower in the postmenopausal patients compared with postmenopausal controls. Our findings also showed that age, duration of diabetes and sex were the additional risk factors for the development of bone loss (p<0.01, <0.02, <0.001, <0.05; respectively). In conclusion, this study shows that BMD values are lower in the patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus than in the controls and BMI has a protective effect on bone loss.