Objective This study was aimed to explore the relationship between lipocalin 2 (LCN2) and bone mineral density (BMD) as well as bone turnover marker (BTM) in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A total of 119 subjects were included in this study, including 84 elderly patients with T2DM and 35 non-T2DM subjects as control. The BMDs of the lumbar spine 1-4 and femoral neck were measured using duaI energy X-ray absorptiometry. Venous blood samples were collected and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OH-D3), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), type 1 N-terminal procollagen (P1NP), collagen type 1 cross-linked C-telopeptide (CTX) and other biochemical parameters were assayed. Results Serum LCN2 levels were significantly higher in T2DM subjects than those without T2DM (197.13±42.15 vs.172.29 ±54.71 ng/mL, P=0.01). The subjects were divided into three groups according to tertiles of serum LCN2 level. With the increase in LCN2 levels, both BMDs and BTMs increased significantly (all P<0.05). LCN2 positively correlated with BMDs (femoral neck: r=0.350, P=0.001; lumbar spine: r=0.355, P=0.001), and BTMs (P1NP, r=0.354, P=0.001; CTX, r=0.438, P<0.001), and negatively correlated with the indexes of glucose metabolism (FPG, r=-0.321; P=0.003; HbA1c, r=-0.342, P=0.002). Regression analysis showed that LCN2 was an independent predictor for lumbar spine BMD (P<0.05). Conclusion LCN2 was related to bone metabolism in elderly patients with T2DM and increased LCN2 was associated with higher BMD. |