Negative Association of Plasma Cholesterol and Low-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, but not Testosterone or Growth Hormone, with Bone Mineral Density in Elderly Korean Men.

Dear Editor-in-Chief

Elderly individuals are susceptible to conditions that are negatively related to osteoporosis. Testosterone and growth hormone deficiencies have been linked with low bone mineral density (BMD), which is an important marker of osteoporosis (1–2). Moreover, epidemiological studies have strongly correlated BMD with lipid profiles in men (3) and women (4–5). BMD is also associated with hypercholesterolemia (6–7). In elderly Korean women, growth hormone and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations are significantly associated with BMD (8). Nevertheless, in Asian countries, especially South Korea, no studies have examined the association between BMD and lipid profiles. Elucidation of BMD-related lipid profiles in elderly men will provide valuable information to improve the management of BMD. Forty-four elderly men exceeding 65-years-of-age from the Chungju Senior Welfare Center in Korea participated in this study. Fasting glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride concentrations were measured using an ADVIA 1650 automated analyzer (Bayer Health Care, Tarrytown, NY, USA). Cholestest N HDL (Daiichi, Japan) was used to determine glucose concentrations. Growth hormone and testosterone concentrations were assessed using an immunometric assay method with the COBRA II Gamma counter (Packard, Palo Alto, CA, USA) and the electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (Roche Diagnostics, Basel, Switzerland), respectively. BMD was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry using a 1000 scan system (DEXA, City, State, USA) at the average femur. Correlations between BMD and related factors were analyzed through the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis.

All statistical procedures were performed using SPSS version 19.0 for Windows (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). The level of significance was set at p < 0.05.

Negative correlation with BMD was evident for total cholesterol (r = −0.337, P = 0.025) and LDL-C concentrations (r = −0.396, P = 0.008). Fasting glucose (r = 0.029, P = 0.851), plasma testosterone (r = 0.116, P = 0.452), triglyceride (r = −0.095, P = 0.541), HDL-C (r = 0.123, P = 0.428), and growth hormone concentrations (r = −0.160, P = 0.298) were not correlated with BMD. Thus, total cholesterol and LDL-C concentrations might be factors that affect BMD in elderly men. In addition, we analyzed variables that could be used to estimate BMD in elderly men.