November 1, 1990Arteriosclerosis An Official Journal of the American Heart Association IncOpen Access
Relationship of endogenous sex steroid hormones to lipids and apoproteins in postmenopausal women.
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Implication
Observational cohort study reveals that falling estradiol levels parallel drops in protective high-density lipoproteins in early postmenopausal women, highlighting metabolic risks during menopause.
Key Points
- To evaluate how endogenous estrogen levels relate to lipoprotein lipids and apoproteins in women during early perimenopause and postmenopause.
- Evaluated 120 women in early climacteric, examining them during perimenopause (3 months of amenorrhea) and postmenopause (1 year of amenorrhea without hormone replacement therapy).
- Measured circulating levels of estradiol, estrone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH > 720 ng/ml), HDL2 cholesterol subfractions, LDL cholesterol, and apoprotein A-I across examination visits.
- Serum estradiol correlated positively with HDL2 cholesterol subfractions, with substantial drops in HDL2 cholesterol and apoprotein A-I when estradiol fell to ≤ 2.5 pg/ml.
- Estradiol decreased markedly between perimenopausal and postmenopausal examinations, coinciding with reductions in HDL2 cholesterol and nonsignificant increases in LDL cholesterol.
- Estrone was identified as the predominant postmenopausal estrogen and correlated directly with obesity and insulin levels, suggesting metabolic factors largely regulate postmenopausal HDL cholesterol.
Cite This Study
Kuller et al. (1990) studied this question.