Abstract:Objective To investigate the correlation between serum leukocyte cell - derived chemotaxin 2（LECT2） levels and osteoporosis，and to evaluate its potential value as a diagnostic biomarker. Methods A total of 160 patients with osteoporosis（osteoporosis group）and 160 healthy individuals who underwent physical examinations during the same period（control group）at Nanjing Pukou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from June 2023 to October 2024 were enrolled. The following indicators were compared between the two groups: bone metabolism indicators such as serum levels of β-C-terminal cross-linked telopeptides of type Ⅰcollagen(β-CTX），osteocalcin（OCN），procollagen type Ⅰ N-terminal propeptide（P ⅠNP），25-hydroxyvitamin D［25（OH）D］，as well as bone mineral density（BMD）of the lumbar spine and femoral neck，and serum LECT2 levels. The diagnostic efficacy of these indicators was assessed using receiver operating characteristic（ROC）curves，and the correlations of LECT2 levels with bone metabolic markers and BMD were evaluated using Pearson or Spearman correlation analysis. Results Compared with the control group，serum.β -CTX，OCN，P ⅠNP，and LECT2 levels were significantly higher in the osteoporosis group（P<0.05），whereas 25（OH）D levels and BMD values of the lumbar spine and femoral neck were significantly lower（P<0.05）. ROC curve analysis showed that LECT2 had a high diagnostic efficacy for osteoporosis，with an area under the curve（AUC）of 0.773. When combined with β - CTX，25（OH）D，and BMD，the diagnostic efficacy was further improved（AUC=0. 843）. Correlation analysis revealed that LECT2 levels were significantly positively correlated with β-CTX，OCN，and PⅠNP（P<0.01），and significantly negatively correlated with 25（OH）D，lumbar spine BMD，and femoral neck BMD（P<0.01）. Conclusion Serum LECT2 levels are significantly elevated in patients with osteoporosis and are strongly correlated with bone metabolic markers and BMD. LECT2，in combination with conventional bone metabolic indicatorsand BMD measurements，can significantly improve the early diagnostic efficacy of osteoporosis.