association between the serum levels of zinc, copper and lipid profile with osteoporosis in iranian postmenopausal women

background trace elements and lipids have an important role in the development of osteoporosis that is a major health problem of postmenopausal women. objectives the purpose of this study was to compare the serum levels of zinc (zn), copper (cu) and lipid profile between the postmenopausal women suffering from osteoporosis and the healthy controls. furthermore, we aimed to determine whether there is an association between the parameters mentioned above and the bone mineral density (bmd). patients and methods the study was conducted on 116 postmenopausal women; 58 osteoporosis (age 60.6 ± 3.9 years) and 58 control group (age 55.4 ± 1.7 years). the serum levels of zn and cu were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and bmd was analyzed by dexa scan. results the serum levels of zn and cu were similar in the both groups (p > 0.05). serum levels of low density lipoprotein (ldl) and total cholesterol (tc) in osteoporosis group was statistically significant when compared to the controls (p < 0.05). correlation analysis showed that there was significant association between body mass index (bmi) and bmd values (p < 0.05). there was no correlation between serum zn, cu levels with lipid profile (p > 0.05). however, we found a negative significant correlation between bmd with ldl (r = -0.31, p = 0.001) and total cholesterol levels (r = -0.26, p = 0.006). conclusions this study suggested that dyslipidemia might be an independent risk factor of osteoporosis in iranian postmenopausal women. moreover, the trace elements did not directly and correlatively influence bmd.