Women Who Take Low-Dose Combined Oral Contraceptives have Greater Triglycerides to High Density Lipoprotein Ratio than Those Who do not Use

Introduction:It is known that the combined oral contraceptive (COC) use has been associated with increase cardiovascular risk markers, such a lipid metabolism modifications.Small dense LDL particles (LDL phenotype B) are described as being more atherogenic than larger buoyant ones and its presence in bloodis directly related to triglycerides (TG) to high density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio. Aim:To test the hypothesis that women who take COC have greater values of TG / HDL ratio than those who do not take it. Methods:The subjects consisted of women with age between 18 and 30 years old, irregular activity, eutrophics, with waist circumference <80 cm, blood glucose <100 mg / dL and fasting triglycerides <200 mg / dL.The subjects were separated into two groups: 1) the group taking COC for at least one year (COG); 2) the group not taking any kind of hormonal contraceptive (NOCG).Results: 106 volunteers were evaluated, which 52 of these were in the GCO.The means of TG / HDL ratio of the COG and NCOG were 2.1 (± 0.8) vs 1.1 (± 0.5) (p <0.01; ES = 1.5), respectively.Still, the means of all lipid profile variables analyzed of COG were greater with statistic relevance than the other one. Conclusion:Women who COC have TG / HDL ratio greater than those who do not take, suggesting the presence of lipid profile more atherogenic.