Atherogenic Index of Plasma: A Potential Biomarker for Clinical Diagnosis of Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis

Background: Osteomyelitis of the diabetic foot is a costly health problem worldwide. Early and accurate diagnosis of the disease in patients with diabetic foot infections is needed urgently and will have an important role in diabetic foot management. Methods: This was a case-control study of subjects with diabetic foot ulcers admitted to Beijing Shijitan Hospital from September 2015 to April 2018. We compared differences in the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) in patients with or without osteomyelitis. Results: The mean AIP of 165 patients with osteomyelitis was 0.23 ± 0.24, which was significantly higher than the mean AIP of patients without osteomyelitis. Higher AIP values were associated with a considerably higher risk of osteomyelitis with an odds ratio of 1.81 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71–4.61), 4.70 (1.88–11.75), 5.03 (2.06–12.25) and 1.74 (1.33–2.28). Moreover, at a cut-off of 0.184, the AIP value showed a sensitivity of 84.3% and a specificity of 83.1% in the discriminatory identification of diabetic foot osteomyelitis. Conclusions: Elevated AIP was significantly associated with diabetic foot osteomyelitis, supporting the use of this index as a biomarker for the diagnosis in clinical practice.