Vertebral bone marrow glucose uptake is inversely associated with bone marrow fat in diabetic and healthy pigs: [(18)F]FDG-PET and MRI study.

Objectives: Diabetes induces osteoporosis and during osteoporosis, vertebral bone marrow (VBM) adipose tissue amount increases. The association between this adiposity and bone marrow metabolism is unclear. Here, we compared VBM glucose metabolism and fat content in healthy and diabetic pigs, in vivo, using positron emission tomography (PET), in-phase and out-of-phase magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance proton spectroscopy ((1)H MR spectroscopy).

Materials/methods: Eleven pigs (n=11) were used. The intervention group had five diabetic and the control group had six healthy pigs. To measure metabolism, PET-imaging with [(18)F]fluoro-deoxy-glucose ([(18)F]FDG) intravenous tracer was used. 1.5-T MRI with (1)H spectroscopy, in-phase and out-of-phase imaging and chemical TAG analysis of the VBM were performed.

Results: We found a significant inverse correlation between VBM glucose uptake (GU) and VBM fat content (R=-0.800, p<0.01) and TAG concentration assay (R=-0.846, p<0.05). There was a trend, although non-significant, of a linear correlation between VBM (1)H MR spectroscopy and TAG concentration (R=0.661) and (1)H MR spectroscopy and in-phase and out-of-phase MR imaging (R=0.635).

Conclusions: VBM glucose metabolism coupled with VBM fat content may impact diabetic induced osteoporosis.