Association of Decreased Handgrip Strength with Reduced Cortical Thickness in Japanese Female Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

LD-100, a quantitative ultrasonic device, allows us to measure cortical thickness (CoTh). Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) show high prevalence of sarcopenia. This study aimed to clarify the association of handgrip strength (HGS) with cortical porosis, a major risk for fracture of DM. CoTh and trabecular bone mineral density (TrBMD) at the 5.5% distal radius were assessed in T2DM female patients (n = 122) and non-DM female controls (n = 704) by LD-100. T2DM patients aged older 40 years showed significantly lower HGS and CoTh, but not TrBMD, than non-DM counterparts. Although HGS was significantly and positively correlated with CoTh and TrBMD in T2DM patients, multivariate analysis revealed HGS as an independent factor positively associated with CoTh, but not TrBMD, in T2DM patients, suggesting the preferential association of HGS with cortical, but not trabecular, bone component in T2DM female patients. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated an early decline of HGS in T2DM female patients as compared with non-DM healthy controls after the age of 40 years, which is independently associated with thinner CoTh, but not TrBMD in T2DM patients, and thus suggested that reduced muscle strength associated with DM might be a major factor for cortical porosis development in DM patients.