Association Between Coronary Artery Calcium Score and Bone Mineral Density in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Different Visceral Fat Area

PURPOSE: The relationship between coronary artery calcification and bone mineral density (BMD) in T2DM is still unclear. The aim of this study is to analyze the association between coronary artery calcium score (CACs) and BMD in T2DM with different visceral fat area (VFA), and further to explore the clinical significance of CACs in predicting osteoporosis in T2DM patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 479 T2DM patients aged ≥50 years were included. Agatston was applied to calculate CACs to evaluate the degree of coronary artery calcification. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure BMD. According to VFA, all subjects were divided into VFA <100cm(2) and VFA ≥100cm(2) group. Adjusted regression analysis was performed to analyze the association between CACs and BMD. ROC curve was used to analyze the optimal cut-off value of CACs for screening osteoporosis. RESULTS: The baseline showed that in VFA ≥100cm(2) group, CACs increased significantly than that in VFA <100cm(2) group (212.1±195.9 vs 139.3±141.8, p<0.001) and total hip BMD decreased obviously (0.968±0.19 vs 1.021±0.184, p=0.01). After multivariable adjustment, CACs was not significantly associated with BMD in all patients (p>0.05). However, CACs was negatively associated with BMD of total hip and lumbar spine in patients with VFA ≥100cm(2) (total hip β=−0.087 p=0.01; lumbar spine β=−0.052 p=0.005), but not VFA <100cm(2). ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value of CACs for screening osteoporosis was 191.505. CONCLUSION: The present study implied that associations between CACs and BMD varied by the visceral fat deposition. It is critical to evaluate the condition of visceral fat accumulation for exploring the complex interplay of coronary artery calcification and BMD in T2DM patients. It may be of some clinical value for CACs in predicting osteoporosis in T2DM with visceral obesity.