The effects of diabetes therapy on bone: A clinical perspective.

Overview

The effects of diabetes and diabetes therapy on bone are less known among clinicians. Traditionally, the emphasis of diabetes therapy has been on reducing cardiovascular risk by facilitating reductions in weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, systemic inflammation, and lipid levels. Now, with ample research demonstrating that patients with diabetes are more susceptible to bone fractures relative to controls, there has been a greater or renewed interest in studying the effects of diabetes therapy on bone. Interestingly, the majority of antidiabetic agents positively affect bone, but a few have detrimental effects. Specifically, although insulin has been demonstrated to be anabolic to bone, the rate of hypoglycemic episodes are increased with exogenous infusion; consequently, there is an increased fall and fracture frequency. Other agents such as thiazolidinediones have more direct negative effects on bone through transcriptional regulation. Even metabolic surgery, to a varying operation-dependent extent, exacerbates bone strength and may heighten fracture rate. The remaining diabetes agents seem to have neutral or positive effects on bone. With the increasing incidence of diabetes, it is more pertinent than ever to fully comprehend the effects of diabetes-related therapeutic modalities.