Sarcopaenia tied to BMD, osteoporosis in T2DM

In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), sarcopaenia is linked to both bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporosis, a new study has found.

The researchers enrolled 192 women and 225 men with T2DM in whom appendicular skeletal muscle adjusted by height (ASM/height²) was used as a marker of sarcopaenia. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at three sites (femur neck, total hip, and total lumbar spine). The World Health Organization criteria was used for defining osteoporosis.

Spearman partial correlation analysis revealed that ASM/height² was significantly and positively correlated with BMD at the lumbar spine (r, 0.245 in men and 0.285 in women; p<0.001 for both), femoral neck (r, 0.376 in men and 0.292 in women; p<0.001), and total hip (r, 0.394 in men and 0.332 in women; p<0.001). Adjustment for age did not attenuate these interactions.

Multivariate linear regression analysis further confirmed the significant link between ASM/height² with BMD at all three sites, though slight differences were reported according to body mass index, sex, and age.

Subsequent logistic regression analysis revealed a significant link between ASM/height² and osteoporosis in both men (odds ratio [OR], 6.036) and women (OR, 4.079; p<0.05 for both).

The researchers then performed receiver operating characteristic curve analysis to determine the impact of ASM/height² on the diagnosis of osteoporosis. The area under the curve for men and women was 0.722 and 0.686, respectively.

At the optimal cutoff values of 7.87 kg/m² in men, the sensitivity and specificity values were 43 percent and 96 percent, respectively. Corresponding values in women at a cutoff of 5.94 kg/m² were 80 percent and 57 percent.