Abstract
Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are thought to have an increased fracture risk. Decreased bone quality could contribute to this increased risk. In this cross-sectional study of 306 participants from The Maastricht Study, we compared volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), microarchitecture and strength at the distal radius in participants with T2DM (N=60, median HbA1c 6.9%, median diabetes duration 8.8 years) and with normal glucose metabolism (NGM, N=246) using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Unadjusted analyses showed increased cortical porosity (p<0.001) and pore volume (p<0.001) in T2DM compared to NGM. However, after adjustment for age, sex and BMI, the associations between T2DM and cortical porosity and pore volume were no longer significant (p>0.05). vBMD, trabecular microarchitecture and bone strength were not significantly different between both groups in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses (p>0.05). Concluding, in this group of relatively well-treated T2DM participants bone quality may not be compromised.