Correlation between breast cancer and osteocalcin levels, and risk of hypertension in postmenopausal women: Implications for pharmacological intervention

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between breast cancer (BC), osteocalcin (OC) and hypertension risk in postmenopausal women.Methods: Two hundred patients with BC and 200 non–BC women who visited The First People's Hospital of Wenling Hospital, Wenling, China from June 2018 to March 2021 were included in the study. Fifty-three patients with hypertension and 157 non-hypertensive patients were included in the hypertension studies. The enrolled postmenopausal women were divided into control, BC, hypertensive and non–hypertensive groups and risk factors for hypertension were analyzed. Pearson's correlation coefficient was performed to correlate OC levels with clinical indices. The incidence of hypertension in each group was counted and its correlation with OC levels was determined using Chi–square test.Results: Age, BMI, OC, SBP, DBP, TC, TG, PTH and FPG levels were risk factors for the progression of hypertension in postmenopausal women (OR > 1, p < 0.05). Serum levels of OC in postmenopausal women had negative correlation with age, BMI, SBP, DBP, TC, TG, PTH, 25–(OH)D3 and FPG levels (r < 0, p < 0.05), but had positive correlation with HDL–C, CTX and PINP levels (r > 0, p < 0.05). With the elevation of OC levels, the incidence of hypertension showed a decreasing trend in postmenopausal women (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Menopause is a risk factor for BC in women, while low OC levels are significantly related to elevated risk of hypertension in postmenopausal women. These findings suggest that armacological intervention to increase OC levels may have potential benefits in mitigating the risk of hypertension in postmenopausal women.