Abstract:
Objective To explore the difference of body composition between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and normal blood glucose patients of different sexes.
Methods A total of 292 individuals with normal blood glucose and 178 patients with T2DM were investigated. The difference of physical composition between T2DM patients and patients with normal blood glucose was analyzed. The bone mineral density (BMD) (L1-L3), visceral fat area (VFA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA) and total abdominal soft tissue were measured using quantitative CT (QCT).
Results The VFA and total abdominal soft tissue of male T2DM patients were higher than that of those with normal blood glucose levels (P < 0.01). The SFA, VFA and total abdominal soft tissue in the premenopausal T2DM patients were higher than that of premenopausal women with normal blood glucose levels, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.01). The VFA and total abdominal soft tissue in the postmenopausal T2DM patients were higher than those in postmenopausal normal blood glucose individuals (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05). The BMD of male patients with T2DM was lower than that of male individuals with normal blood glucose (P < 0.01), but there was no statistical significance in the BMD between female patients with T2DM and normal blood glucose (P > 0.05). The results of multivariate regression analysis showed that BMD decreasing and total abdominal soft tissue increasing were the risk factors of T2DM in male patients (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05), while there was no statistical significance in the effects of VFA and SFA on T2DM disease (P > 0.05). The BMD decreasing and VFA increasing were the risk factors of T2DM in female patients (P < 0.05), while there was no statistical significance in the effects of SFA and total abdominal soft tissue on T2DM morbidity (P > 0.05).
Conclusions Different gender T2DM patients have different changes in body composition. Male patients have a significant increase in total abdominal soft tissue, and female patients have a significant increase in visceral fat, all of which are accompanied by different degrees of BMD reduction. Early intervention can avoid the occurrence of osteoporosis, fracture and other complications, and further improve the quality of life of patients.