J Korean Acad Fam Med.  2003 May;24(5):451-455.

Influence of HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors on Bone Mass in Postmenopausal Women

• Lee SY
• Kim YJ

Abstract

BACKGROUNG: It is controversial whether the use of HMG CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) is associated with an increased bone mineral density (BMD) in humans. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of statins on BMD in Korean postmenopausal women.
METHODS
Forty-four postmenopausal women (aged 54.3 5.8 years) were included. The statin users (n=24) were administered either simvastain, atorvastatin, pravastatin, or lovastatin. The control group (n=20) did not take statins. BMD of the spine were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was tested as a bone marker. The data were analysed with two-sample t test and paired t-test.
RESULTS
The mean annual spinal BMD changes of the study groups were 1.5 5.6% for statin users and 0.2 4.2% for control group. There was no statistically significant difference in mean annual spinal BMD changes (P=0.696). The mean annual ALP changes of the study groups were 5.6 18.1% for the statin users and 0.4 13.9% for the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in mean annual ALP changes (P=0.246). In each group, the spinal BMD significantly was not changed after 1 year (P>0.05).
CONCLUSION
This study suggest that statins do not protect from bone loss in Korean postmenopausal women.

Keyword

menopause; female; hydroxymethylglutaryl- CoA reductase inhibitors; bone density; alkaline phosphatase

MeSH Terms

Absorptiometry, Photon
Alkaline Phosphatase
Bone Density
Female
Humans
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors*
Lovastatin
Menopause
Pravastatin
Spine
Atorvastatin Calcium
Alkaline Phosphatase
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors
Lovastatin
Pravastatin