Hormonal replacement and lipid changes in postmenopausal women.

To assess the effect of hormonal replacement therapy on lipid changes, measurement of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), apolipoprotein A-1 (Apo-A) and apolipoprotein B (Apo-B) was performed on 93 postmenopausal women. Women in the study group (HRT) (51/93) received estrogen with or without progestin. The control group (Non-HRT) (42/93) did not receive any hormone regimen. The measurement was done at 0, 6 and 12 months. The results revealed that triglyceride increased significantly more in the non-HRT than the HRT group at 6 and 12 months. (Non-HRT: +21.7%, +21.7%; HRT: -2.8%, +2.4%, respectively P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in changes of other lipid profiles between the two groups at 6 and 12 months (Non-HRT: TC -2.7%, +0.7%, HDL +2.9%, +5.1%, LDL -5.2%, -4.1%, Apo-A +0.5%, +0.9%, Apo-B +3.8%, +1.3%: HRT: TC -1.4%, -2.8%, HDL +4.7%, +6.2%, LDL -1.5%, -4.9%, Apo-A -0.9%, +1.6%, Apo-B -2.6%, -1.6%, respectively P > 0.05). The paradoxical changes of triglyceride and HDL might partly be explained by the effect of progestins used in this study.