Suitable bone markers assessing bone status in patients with both coronary artery disease and diabetes.

Background: We aimed to investigate the bone turnover markers in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with and without type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in comparison with control subjects without CAD and T2DM.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 45 subjects undergoing elective heart surgery; either for coronary artery bypass grafting or for valve surgery. According to angiographic results, participants were grouped in two groups with CAD (n = 33) and without CAD (n = 12). The serum levels of osteocalcin (OC), procollagen I aminoterminal propeptide (P1NP) and carboxy-terminal collagen crosslinks (CTX), as bone turnover markers, as well as serum levels of 25 (OH) vitamin D3, PTH, and common metabolic factors were analyzed in all participants.

Results: Serum levels of bone markers did not differ in patients with CAD compared to non-CAD subjects. Regarding metabolic factors, serum levels of FBG had invert correlation with OC in CAD patients (p = 0.004). The data of subgroup analysis showed serum levels of OC and CTX were statistically significant lower in CAD-DM than CAD-non DM (p < 0.05). There were not any significant differences in the P1NP levels between groups.

Conclusions: Our data suggest that CTX and OC would be used as suitable bone markers in CAD patients with T2DM. However, further clinical studies need to establish the role of these markers in CAD patients with diabetes.