Association of cardiovascular disease prevalence with BMD and fracture in men with T2DM.

Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are predisposed to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Bone mineral density (BMD) is linked to CVD, but most studies focused on women. Our analysis aims to explore the association of BMD and fracture with the prevalence of CVD in men with T2DM.

Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 856 men with T2DM were enrolled. BMDs at the lumbar spine (L2-4), femoral neck (FN), and total hip (TH) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The CVD outcome was determined as the sum of the following conditions: congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, the requirement for coronary artery revascularization, and stroke. The relationship between BMDs and CVD was investigated by restricted cubic spline curves and logistic regression models.

Results: A total of 163 (19.0%) patients developed CVD. The restricted cubic spline curve revealed a linear and negative association between FN-BMD, TH-BMD, and CVD. After full adjustments for confounding covariates, the odds ratios were 1.34 (95% confidence interval [CI] [1.11-1.61], p < .05), 1.3 (95% CI [1.05-1.60], p < .05), and 1.26 (95% CI [1.02-1.55], p < .05) for each 1-SD decrease in BMDs of L2-4, FN and TH, respectively. T-scores of < -1 for BMD of L2-4 and FN were independently associated with CVD (p < .05). Subgroup analyses further supported our findings.

Conclusions: The prevalence of CVD was inversely correlated with BMD levels in men with T2DM, particularly at the FN. We hypothesized that monitoring FN-BMD and early intervention would help reduce CVD risk in men with T2DM, especially those with hypertension.