Does vertebral bone marrow fat content correlate with abdominal adipose tissue, lumbar spine bone mineral density, and blood biomarkers in women with type 2 diabetes mellitus?

Purpose: To compare vertebral bone marrow fat content quantified with proton MR spectroscopy ( ¹H-MRS) with the volume of abdominal adipose tissue, lumbar spine volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), and blood biomarkers in postmenopausal women with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Materials and Methods: Thirteen postmenopausal women with T2DM and 13 age- and body mass index-matched healthy controls were included in this study. All subjects underwent ¹H-MRS of L1-L3 to quantify vertebral bone marrow fat content (FC) and unsaturated lipid fraction (ULF). Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) was performed to assess vBMD of L1-L3. The volumes of abdominal subcutaneous/visceral/total adipose tissue were determined from the QCT images and adjusted for abdominal body volume (SAT _adj/VAT _adj/TAT _adj). Fasting blood tests included plasma glucose and HbA1c. Results: Mean FC showed an inverse correlation with vBMD (r = -0.452; P < 0.05) in the whole study population. While mean FC was similar in the diabetic women and healthy controls (69.3 ± 7.5% versus 67.5 ± 6.1%; P > 0.05), mean ULF was significantly lower in the diabetic group (6.7 ± 1.0% versus 7.9 ± 1.6%; P < 0.05). SAT _adj and TAT _adj correlated significantly with mean FC in the whole study population (r = 0.538 and r = 0.466; P < 0.05). In contrast to the control group, significant correlations of mean FC with VAT _adj and HbA1c were observed in the diabetic group (r = 0.642 and r = 0.825; P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that vertebral bone marrow fat content correlates significantly with SAT _adj, TAT _adj, and lumbar spine vBMD in postmenopausal women with and without T2DM, but with VAT _adj and HbA1c only in women with T2DM.