Blood lipid levels in patients with osteopenia and osteoporosis:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction Considering the controversial relationship between blood lipid levels and osteopenia and osteoporosis (OP), we performed this meta-analysis. Materials and methods Using specific keywords and related words, we searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale form was used to evaluate the quality of the literature. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we systematically screened the literature to extract relevant information and data. ReVman 5.3 and Stata 13.0 software were used for statistical analysis. Results were expressed as the mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The heterogeneity test was conducted according to I-2 and Q tests. Egger's test was used to quantitatively evaluate publication bias. Results This analysis involved 12 studies (12,395 subjects). The quality of the literature was acceptable. Among subjects who were not taking lipid-lowering drugs, total cholesterol (TC) (MD = 0.11 mmol/L, 95%CI: - 0.03, 0.25; I-2 = 21%; P = 0.36), triglycerides (TG) (MD = - 0.01 mmol/L, 95%CI: - 0.09, 0.07; I-2 = 6%; P = 0.34), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (MD = 0.10 mmol/L, 95%CI: 0.00, 0.19; I-2 = 0%; P = 0.74) in the osteopenia were not significantly increased/decreased. There were no significant differences in LDL-C (MD = 0.02 mmol/L, 95%CI: - 0.09, 0.13; I-2 = 0%; P = 0.74) in postmenopausal women in osteopenia. TG (MD = - 0.04 mmol/L, 95%CI: - 0.14,0.07; I-2 = 49%; P = 0.07) was unchanged in the osteoporosis (OP) group in subjects without taking lipid-lowering drugs. HDL-C was elevated in OP group (MD = 0.05 mmol/L, 95%CI: 0.03, 0.07; I-2 = 31%; P = 0.15) but not in osteopenia group (MD = 0.01 mmol/L, 95%CI: - 0.01, 0.02; I-2 = 38%; P = 0.14) in all subjects. Conclusion HDL-C was elevated in patients with OP.

Automated summary

In subjects not taking lipid-lowering drugs, there were no significant changes in total cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the osteopenia group. Postmenopausal women with osteopenia did not show significant differences in LDL-C. In the osteoporosis group without taking lipid-lowering drugs, triglycerides remained unchanged, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was elevated.