Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To clarify the contribution of leptin to bone mineral density (BMD) in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DT2).

Materials: We screened 168 Belorussian men aged 50–65 years. Plasma TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, VLDL-C, TG concentrations, HbA1c, IRI, CRP, total testosterone were assessed. BMD was evaluated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). BMD was expressed as a T score. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS v11.0 software.

Results: The mean age was 54.1±4.8 years, duration of diabetes was 7.0 (3.0–12.0) years and HbA1c was 8.2% (7.0–9.7). BMD L₁–L₄ was 1.16±0.15 g/cm², BMD LF was 1.07±0.13 g/cm², BMD RF was 1.06±0.01 g/cm². By univariate linear regression analysis, leptin was significantly correlated with body mass index (r=0.72, P<0.001), waist/hip ratio (r=0.39, P<0.001) and BMD femur (r=0.21, P=0.006). By multivariate regression analysis, there was a significant positive correlation between serum leptin level and BMD femur after adjusting for log total testosterone (β=0.070, P<0.001) and/or IRI and/or TC but the significant relationship disappeared after adjusting for BMI (β=0.047, P=0.054). Correlations between serum leptin level and BMD L₁–L₄ were not significant.

In conclusion, our study revealed that BMD of the femur was positively associated with leptin in male patients with DT2. Further research is necessary to confirm this association and to develop ways to correct abnormalities of bone metabolism in patients with DT2.