Relation of statin use and bone loss: a prospective population-based cohort study in early postmenopausal women

Recent experimental and epidemiologic studies have suggested that the lipid-lowering drugs, statins, may have bone-protective effects. We studied the effects of statin use on the change in bone mineral density (BMD) in a prospective 4.5-year cohort study based on subjects from the Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention (OSTPRE) Study, Finland. Six hundred and twenty women aged 53-64 years were divided into four groups: 55 women reported continuous and 63 women occasional statin use during the follow-up; 142 non-users of statins reported hypercholesterolemia whereas 360 non-users did not. Spinal and femoral BMDs were measured by dual-energy X-ray densitometry in 1995-1996 and 1999-2000 and the BMD changes of the four groups were compared. Characteristics of the study population were obtained with postal inquiries. The mean annual spinal and femoral BMD changes of the study groups were 0.29% and -0.50% for the continuous statin users, 0.19% and -0.57% for the occasional statin users, 0.52% and -0.29% for the hypercholesterolemic non-users of statins, and 0.39% and -0.33% for the non-users of statins without hypercholesterolemia, ( p = 0.398 and p = 0.404) respectively. The corresponding BMD changes adjusted for age, years since menopause, body mass index, BMD at baseline, calcium intake, estrogen and cortisone therapy, duration of follow-up and statin use before the baseline were -0.20% and -0.47%, 0.19% and -0.54%, 0.54% and -0.32%, 0.47% and -0.33% ( p = 0.134 and p = 0.628), respectively. Our results suggest that statins do not protect from early postmenopausal bone loss. Randomized trials are needed to confirm these results.