ABSTRACT
Our aim was to investigate the effect of 1-year treatment with raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, on plasma lipid profiles in Japanese postmenopausal type 2 diabetic patients. A total of 43 Japanese women with postmenopausal osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes with serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C] <3.59 mmol/l, serum triglyceride <1.68 mmol/l and serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C] >1.03 mmol/l, who took 60 mg/day of raloxifene for 12 months, were enrolled. For analysis, they were divided into 2 groups: nonhyperlipidemia [n = 23] and hyperlipidemia treated with statin [n = 20]. Raloxifene treatment significantly induced a mean reduction in serum LDL-C from 2.90 to 2.36 and 2.67 mmol/l in the nonhyperlipidemia and statin-treated group, respectively. However, the reduction ratio of serum LDL-C showed a significant difference in the nonhyperlipidemia group [17%] compared to the statin-treated group [7%; p = 0.03]. Although serum HDL-C showed an increase in both groups [from 1.45 to 1.58 vs. from 1.40 to 1.47 mmol/l], the increase ratio of serum HDL-C was not significant between the two groups. Raloxifene administration showed 15% reduction in the nonhyperlipidemia group [p = 0.02] and 13% reduction in the statin-treated group [p = 0.02] of urinary N-telopeptide of type I collagen. No significant change in blood HbA1C was observed in either group. The administration of raloxifene to type 2 diabetic women showed favorable efficacy on serum lipid profiles, particularly in patients without statin treatment