Lipid profiles and bone mineral density in pre- and postmenopausal women in Korea

Although it has been hypothesized that an atherogenic lipid profile might be associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD), the previous results are controversial. We investigated the association between lipid profile and BMD in premenopausal and postmenopausal women in a large Korean population. This study considered 10,402 women who underwent measurements of lipid profile and BMD from October 2003 to October 2005 at Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul National University Hospital. Participants with potential confounding factors affecting BMD (n = 3,128) were excluded. The associations between lipid profiles (total cholesterol [TC], low-density lipoprotein [LDL-C] and high-density lipoprotein [HDL-C] cholesterol, and triglyceride [TG]) and BMD at various skeletal sites (lumbar spine [L1-L4], proximal total hip, femoral neck, and trochanter) were explored by Pearson's correlation and partial correlation, adjusting for age, body mass index, and menarche age. Multiple linear regression analyses adjusting for all other covariates were also performed. Data on 4,613 premenopausal and 2,661 postmenopausal women aged 20-91 years were finally included in the analysis. In multivariate analyses, there was no significant relationship between lipid profiles and BMD, except that HDL-C was positively associated with BMD at only the lumbar spine in postmenopausal women and that the quartiles of TG were negatively associated with BMD at the total hip and trochanter in only premenopausal women. We conclude that although there were some weak associations between lipid profiles and BMD, the results of this study hardly support the hypothesis that an atherogenic lipid profile is associated with osteoporosis.