Abstract:Objective To investigate the relationship of serum periostin (PN) and sclerostin (SOST) levels with bone mineral density in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).Methods A total of 192 elderly patients with T2DM who were admitted to our hospital from August 2020 to March 2022 were selected as the research objects. According to the bone mineral density, the elderly patients with T2DM were divided into normal bone mass group, osteopenia group, and osteoporosis group, 64 cases in each group. The clinical data of the three groups of patients were compared. The serum PN, SOST levels, and bone metabolism indexes [25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3], osteocalcin (OST), and type I collagen amino-terminal propeptide (PINP) ] were compared among the three groups. Logistic multivariate regression analysis on the risk factors of osteoporosis in elderly patients with T2DM were performed. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was prepared, and the area under the curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum PN, SOST, and their combination in the diagnosis of osteoporosis in elderly patients with T2DM.Results There were significant differences in the levels of HbA1c, HDL-C, PN, SOST, 25(OH)D3, OST, and PINP between the normal bone mass group, the osteopenia group, and the osteoporosis group (P < 0.05). The levels of HbA1c, PN, SOST, OST and PINP in the osteoporosis group were higher than those in the normal bone mass group and the osteopenia group (P < 0.05), while the levels of HDL-C and 25(OH)D3 were lower than those in the normal bone mass group and the osteopenia group (P < 0.05). The levels of PN, SOST, OST and PINP in the osteopenia group were higher than those in the normal bone mass group (P < 0.05), while the levels of 25(OH)D3 were lower than those in the normal bone mass group (P < 0.05). Logistic multivariate analysis showed that HbA1c [O^R = 3.068 (95% CI: 1.084, 4.157) ], PN [O^R = 4.023 (95% CI: 2.768, 10.432) ], SOST [O^R = 3.629 (95% CI: 2.015, 8.439) ], OST [O^R = 3.089 (95% CI: 1.139, 5.846) ] and PINP [O^R = 3.274 (95% CI: 1.632, 7.184) ] were the influencing factors for the occurrence of osteoporosis in elderly patients with T2DM (P < 0.05). The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity of serum PN, SOST and their combination for the diagnosis of osteoporosis in elderly T2DM patients was 73.44% (95% CI: 0.607, 0.833), 78.12% (95% CI: 0.657, 0.871), and 71.88% (95% CI: 0.591, 0.821), respectively; the specificity was 80.47% (95% CI: 0.723, 0.867), 71.09% (95% CI: 0.623, 0.786), and 98.44% (95% CI: 0.940, 0.997), respectively; AUC were 0.769 (95% CI: 0.703, 0.827), 0.782 (95% CI: 0.717, 0.839), and 0.905 (95% CI: 0.855, 0.943), respectively.Conclusion The levels of serum PN and SOST are correlated with bone mineral density in elderly patients with T2DM, and the combination of serum PN and SOST has higher diagnostic efficiency for osteoporosis in elderly patients with T2DM.