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Association of homocysteine, vitamin B12, and folate with bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: a meta-analysis

  • General Gynecology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Background

The relationship of homocysteine (Hcy), folate, and vitamin B12 with bone mineral density (BMD) has been investigated in postmenopausal women. However, the relationship is still controversial.

Purpose

To evaluate the association of Hcy, folate, vitamin B12 and BMD in postmenopausal women with a meta-analysis.

Methods

We searched for all published articles indexed in Medline (1950–2012), Embase (1974–2012), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (1994–2012). Any case–control or cohort study relating to Hcy, vitamin B12, folate, and BMD was included, and the data were extracted independently by two reviewers. Criteria for inclusion were the assessment of Hcy, vitamin B12, folate, and BMD in postmenopausal women as outcomes. We performed this meta-analysis with Review Manager 5.1 software. Odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were used to evaluate the results.

Results

Six eligible studies were selected for meta-analysis. Our analysis suggested that vitamin B12 and Hcy levels were significantly higher in postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMOP) group than that in controls (P = 0.007, <0.05; 95 % CI 3.06–19.38 and P = 0.0003, <0.05; 95 % CI 0.75–2.52, respectively). Folate level was lower in PMOP group than that in controls, but this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.09, 95 % CI −3.33 to 0.25).

Conclusions

Hcy and vitamin B12, but not folate, were related to BMD in PMOP. Extra vitamin B12 may not play a protective role for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Future studies are needed to confirm them, especially the relationship between increased vitamin B12 and BMD.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully thank Humphrey Ochin and Gilmour Tim for their assistance in preparing the manuscript. Grant sponsor: A Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. This work was funded by Jiangsu Province Foundation for Women’s Health (F201201), and the Jiangsu Women and Children Health Hospital (FXK201201), and by the Jiangsu Health International Exchange Program sponsorship of Jiangsu Province Department of Health (JSH-2010-004).

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, 210029, Nanjing, China

    Hongxiu Zhang, Xincheng Tao & Jie Wu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, 210029, Nanjing, China

    Jie Wu

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  1. Hongxiu Zhang
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  2. Xincheng Tao
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Correspondence to Jie Wu.

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Zhang, H., Tao, X. & Wu, J. Association of homocysteine, vitamin B12, and folate with bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: a meta-analysis. Arch Gynecol Obstet 289, 1003–1009 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-013-3075-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-013-3075-6

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