Association of skin autofluorescence with low bone density/osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures in type 2 diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that abnormally accumulate in diabetic patients have been reported to damage bone health. We aimed to investigate the association between skin autofluorescence (SAF)‐AGE(age) (SAF − AGEs × age/100) and low bone density (LBD)/osteoporosis or major osteoporotic fractures (MOFs) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: This study was nested in the prospective REACTION (Risk Evaluation of Cancers in Chinese Diabetic Individuals) study and included 1214 eligible participants. SAF was used to measure skin AGEs (SAF‐AGEs). Fracture events were determined by an in‐person clinical follow‐up. Binary logistic regression analysis, linear regression analysis, and a restricted cubic spline nested in logistic models were used to test outcomes. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of LBD/osteoporosis in middle‐aged or elderly T2DM patients was 35.7% (n = 434), and the overall incidence of MOFs was 10.5% (n = 116). Logistic analysis showed a significantly positive relationship between quartiles of SAF‐AGE(age) and the risk of LBD/osteoporosis (odds ratio [OR] 2.02, 95% CI 1.34–3.03; OR 3.63, CI 2.44–5.39; and OR 6.51, CI 4.34–9.78) for the multivariate‐adjusted models, respectively. SAF‐AGE(age) was associated with MOFs with a multivariate‐adjusted OR of 1.02 (CI 0.52–2.02), 2.42 (CI 1.32–4.46), and 2.70 (CI 1.48–4.91), respectively. Stratified analyses showed that SAF‐AGE(age) was significantly associated with MOFs only in females, nonsmokers, nondrinkers, individuals with lower body mass index, and those without LBD/osteoporosis. Linear regression analyses showed that higher SAF‐AGEs were associated with a higher level of serum N‐terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (s‐PINP) and serum carboxy‐terminal cross‐linking peptide of type I collagen (s‐CTX), with a multivariate‐adjusted OR of 1.02 (CI 0.24–1.80) and 6.30 (CI 1.77–10.83), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, SAF‐AGE(age) was positively associated with the prevalence of LBD/osteoporosis or MOFs in patients with T2DM. A positive association between SAF‐AGEs and the level of s‐PINP and s‐CTX was found.