Higher Serum Uric Acid Is Associated with Higher Bone Mineral Density in Chinese Men with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract EN

Accumulating evidence suggests that oxidative stress is associated with osteoporosis.

Serum uric acid (UA) is a strong endogenous antioxidant.

Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the serum UA and BMD in Chinese men with T2DM.

In this cross-sectional study of 621 men with T2DM, BMDs at lumbar spine (L2–4), femoral neck (FN), and total hip (TH) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Serum levels of UA, calcium (Ca), 25-OH vitamin D3 (vitD3), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and creatinine (Cr) were also tested.

Data analyses revealed that serum UA levels were positively associated with BMD at all sites ( p < 0.05 ) in men with T2DM after adjusting for multiple confounders.

The serum UA levels were positively correlated with body weight ( r = 0.322 ), body mass index (BMI) ( r = 0.331 ), Ca ( r = 0.179 ), and Cr ( r = 0.239 ) ( p < 0.001 ) and were also positively associated with the concentrations of PTH ( r = 0.10 , p < 0.05 ).

When compared with those in the lowest tertile of UA levels, men with T2DM in the highest tertile had a lower prevalence of osteoporosis or osteopenia (adjusted odds ratio 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.31–0.95).

These data suggest that higher serum levels of UA are associated with higher BMDs and lower risks of osteoporosis in Chinese men with T2DM.