Bone markers and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes patients.

BACKGROUND: Vascular calcifications are associated with a three- to fourfold increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and are highly prevalent in type 2 diabetes patients. Emerging evidence indicates that vascular calcification is a process of active bone formation regulated by stimulators and inhibitors of calcification. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate whether six bone markers are associated with CVD risk in patients with type 2 diabetes.

METHODS: We used data of a case-cohort study, nested in the EPIC-NL cohort, comprising 134 CVD cases and a random subcohort of 218 participants, all with type 2 diabetes at baseline. Six bone markers (osteocalcin, osteopontin, osteonectin, osteoprotegerin, alkaline phosphatase and sclerostin) were measured in baseline plasma samples with multiplex assays and information on CVD events was obtained. The association of bone makers with CVD risk was evaluated using Cox proportional hazard analyses.

RESULTS: Higher concentrations of plasma osteopontin were associated (ptrend  < 0.01) with an increased CVD risk with a hazard ratio of 2.00 (95%-CI 1.20-3.35) for the highest versus the lowest quartile in a multivariable adjusted model. The other bone markers were not associated with CVD risk.

CONCLUSIONS: Higher osteopontin concentrations were associated with an increased CVD risk in type 2 diabetes patients. No consistent associations were found for the other five bone markers and risk of CVD in type 2 diabetes patients.