The effects of one-year simvastatin therapy on women’s bone mineral density

Abstract

Only few studies have reported that bone fracture risk is decreased in hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women treated with statin therapy. Because of a lack of longitudinal studies on the effect of statins on bones, the aim of our investigation was to estimate the simvastatin therapy effects on bone mineral density in hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women. Our investigation was carried out on 53 postmenopausal women with hypercholesterolemia. The women included in the study were divided into two groups. Group 1 was comprised of women with two or more (n=32) atherosclerosis risk factors, whereas group 2 had women with less than two (n=21) of these risk factors. All the women included in the study were placed on a hypocholesterolemic diet and the women in group 1 were additionally treated with 20 mg of simvastatin daily. The parameters of lipid status, body mass index, and L2-L4 densitometry were determined at baseline and then after one year. The simvastatin-treated group showed significant improvement of lipid parameters and increased bone mineral density. Finally, changes in bone mineral density between the groups showed significant differences (p<0.05). Although our investigation was carried out on a small group, our results showed a positive effect of the simvastatin therapy on the bone mineral density of postmenopausal women.© Versita Sp. z o.o.

Melatonin potentiates the anti‐tumour effect of pravastatin in rat mammary gland carcinoma model

“…Several recent studies have shown that pleiotropic effects of statins also include an influence on bone metabolism. There are experimental (Chang et al 2011;Gradosova et al 2011) and clinical (Dimic et al 2011;Gotoh et al 2011) studies where positive effects of statins on bone metabolism were observed. In our model, significant negative effects of fluvastatin (Kubatka et al 2013) or neutral effects of pravastatin alone and in combination with melatonin (this study) on femur compact bone thickness in rats were found.…”

Low Doses of Simvastatin Potentiate the Effect of Sodium Alendronate in Inhibiting Bone Resorption and Restore Microstructural and Mechanical Bone Properties in Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis

“…The osteoporosis etiology is complex and multifactorial (Weinstein, 2001; Bonucci & Ballanti, 2014). Osteoporosis can be observed throughout the natural aging process and health factors, such as hormonal disorders, a sedentary lifestyle and immobility, inadequate nutrient intake, metabolic and chronic inflammatory diseases, as well as prolonged use of drugs, can aggravate bone loss and accelerate osteoporosis development (Rosenson et al, 2005; Dimic et al, 2010; Weinstein, 2012).…”

“…Bisphosphonates, and more recently statins, have been used in therapeutic protocols to treat bone diseases with different etiologies (Dimic et al, 2010; Rogers et al, 2011; Khosla et al, 2012; Oryan et al, 2015). Due to their efficacy, safety, and remarkable selectivity for bone tissue, bisphosphonates have been prescribed as the standard treatment for osteoporosis (Bellido & Plotkin, 2011; Ruan et al, 2012; Briot & Roux, 2015).…”

“…There is evidence that alendronate is effective in stimulating bone mineral density, even when osteoporosis had already progressed to an advanced degree (Rogers et al, 2011; Khosla et al, 2012). Statins, which act via different mechanisms, have recently been proposed to treat osteoporosis and prevent fractures (Dimic et al, 2010; Zhang et al, 2014; Oryan et al, 2015). Simvastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, is clinically used to reduce blood cholesterol levels (Ruan et al, 2012; Dai et al, 2016).…”