Abstract
PURPOSE: Accumulating evidence has shown that serum uric acid (UA) is associated with some chronic diseases owing to its antioxidant capacity; however, previous research has discrepant results regarding the relationship between UA and bone health. UA normalized by renal function can reflect endogenous UA levels more precisely than SUA levels. This study assessed the relationship between serum UA-to-creatinine (SUA/Cr) ratio and bone turnover markers (BTMs) in men and postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Overall, 1691 patients (1028 males and 663 postmenopausal females) with T2DM admitted to Hebei General Hospital between January and December 2020 were selected and divided into two groups according to their SUA/Cr ratio. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare groups. The relationship between the SUA/Cr ratio and BTMs (including osteocalcin [OC], procollagen I N-terminal peptide [PINP], and β-isomerized type I collagen C-telopeptide breakdown products [β-CTX]) was analyzed using multiple linear regression. Furthermore, subgroup analyses were performed to explore the differences between men and women in the relationship between SUA/Cr and BTMs. Mediation analysis was used to explore whether insulin resistance mediated the association between SUA/Cr and BTMs. RESULTS: β-CTX and PNIP levels of patients with T2DM in the low SUA/Cr group were significantly higher than those in the high SUA/Cr group, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that SUA/Cr was negatively correlated with β-CTX and PNIP. After adjusting for confounding factors, multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that the SUA/Cr level was negatively correlated with PINP and β-CTX in male patients and postmenopausal women with T2DM. Stronger correlations were found in patients with 25(OH)D3 < 20ng/mL, course ≥ 5 years, HbA1c > 7%, or BMI < 28 kg/m2. CONCLUSION: SUA/Cr ratio was an independent influencing factor of BTMs in patients with T2DM.