The Inverse Association of Leg Fat Mass and Osteoporosis in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Independent of Lean Mass

PURPOSE: Recent studies revealed that high levels of thigh fat were independently associated with better glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as lower risk of hypertension and cardiometabolic disease. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between leg fat mass (FM) and osteoporosis (OP) in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1,259 individuals aged 50 years or older with T2DM (female 536, male 723) were included. A bioelectrical impedance analyser was used to assess the segment body composition containing FM and lean mass (LM) of arms, legs, and trunk. Bone mineral density (BMD) was determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: Leg FM was positively correlated with BMD of all sites in females and BMD of femoral neck and total hip in males after adjusting age, diabetes duration, glucose and lipid metabolism indexes, and lifestyle (all P<0.05). LM was positively associated with BMD at almost sites (P<0.001), while leg FM/LM ratio had no relationship with BMD at any skeleton sites (P>0.05). Compared with the bottom tertile group of leg FM, the risk of OP was significantly lower in the top tertile group both in females (T3 vs T1: OR=0.206, 95% CI=0.098–0.433, P<0.001) and males (T3 vs T1: OR=0.385, 95% CI=0.182–0.815, P<0.05), even after adjusting for LM. CONCLUSION: In the present study, higher leg FM was correlated with the lower risk of OP in both men and postmenopausal women with T2DM independently of total LM.