Adults with abdominal obesity who participated in a mixed-meal tolerance test exhibited an acute postprandial suppression of bone turnover markers compared with the response after an oral glucose tolerance test, according to findings published in Bone.

“Type 2 diabetes is associated with low bone turnover and increased fracture risk despite increased bone mineral density,” Rasmus Fuglsang-Nielsen, MD, PhD, a resident in the department of endocrinology and internal medicine at Aarhus University Hospital and a postdoctoral fellow at the Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, told Healio. “The mode of action is poorly understood but seems to relate to fragile bone structure. The development of insulin resistance in abdominal obesity precedes overt type 2 diabetes. Our study suggests that insulin resistance may be of key essence in the suppression of bone turnover. Improving insulin sensitivity by exercise or weight loss may not only benefit glycemic control, but may additionally benefit the physical properties of bone tissue in abdominal obesity and type 2 diabetes.”