We performed a cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence of Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) through Dual-Energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) Vertebral Fracture Assessment (VFA) in a group of post-menopausal women with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). We also explored several biomarkers of bone turnover metabolism, including Wnt pathway modulators. DXA-VFA was performed to detect the presence of DISH. Serum samples were collected from all patients at the time of study recruitment. 16 different serum biomarkers were tested between the two subgroups. Given the exploratory nature of the study, we did not adjust for multiplicity. At VFA analysis, among 96 individuals enrolled in the study 20 (20.8%) showed features of DISH. No statistically significant difference was found for BMD values, between the DISH and NO-DISH subgroups. Concerning blood biomarkers, DISH patients showed a significant difference only in the sclerostin serum levels (32 vs 35.5 pmol/L, for the DISH and NO-DISH subgroup, respectively; p = 0.010). After adjustment for confounding factors, sclerostin serum levels remained significantly lower in DISH group (p = 0.002). We demonstrated a non-negligible prevalence of DISH in a population of post-menopausal women affected by T2DM and suggested low serum sclerostin as a possible key feature associated with DISH presence. In addition, we propose DXA-VFA analysis, whose radiation dose is considerably lower than conventional radiography, as a viable diagnostic and prognostic mean to obtain data not only on bone health, but also for the screening for DISH in subjects at risk.

我们进行了一项横断面研究，通过双能 X 线骨密度仪 (DXA) 椎体骨折评估 (VFA) 在一组患有 2 型糖尿病的绝经后女性中调查弥漫性特发性骨肥大症 (DISH) 的患病率。 T2DM）。我们还探索了几种骨转换代谢的生物标志物，包括 Wnt 通路调节剂。进行 DXA-VFA 以检测 DISH 的存在。在研究招募时从所有患者收集血清样本。在两个亚组之间测试了 16 种不同的血清生物标志物。鉴于研究的探索性，我们没有调整多重性。在 VFA 分析中，参加研究的 96 人中有 20 人（20.8%）表现出 DISH 的特征。在 DISH 和 NO-DISH 亚组之间，BMD 值没有发现统计学上的显着差异。p  = 0.010)。在调整混杂因素后，DISH 组的血清硬化蛋白水平仍显着降低（p  = 0.002）。我们证明了在受 T2DM 影响的绝经后妇女人群中 DISH 的患病率不可忽略，并表明血清硬化蛋白水平低可能是与 DISH 存在相关的一个关键特征。此外，我们提出 DXA-VFA 分析，其辐射剂量远低于传统放射线照相术，作为一种可行的诊断和预后手段，不仅可以获得有关骨骼健康的数据，而且还用于筛查有风险的受试者的 DISH。