![Sample our Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Allied Health journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5944/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Medicine-Dentistry-Nursing-Allied-Health.jpg"})
Abstract
Objective. To investigate the effect of intranasal estrogen replacement therapy administered to postmenopausal women alone or in combination with progesterone on markers of cardiovascular risk.
Methods. The study was conducted with 44 voluntary postmenopausal women. In group I (n = 15), the patients were treated with only intranasal estradiol (300 μg/day estradiol hemihydrate). In group II (n = 11), the patients received cyclic progesterone (200 mg/day micronized progesterone) for 12 days in each cycle in addition to continuous intranasal estradiol. Group III (n = 18) was the controls. Serum lipid profiles, oxidised low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and other markers of cardiovascular risk were assessed at baseline and at the 3rd month of the treatment.
Results. Lipid profile, LDL apolipoprotein B, lipoprotein a, homocysteine, oxidised LDL values and oxidised LDL/LDL cholesterol ratio were not observed to change after 3 months compared to baseline values within each group (p > 0.016). In comparison to changes between the groups after the treatment, only oxidised LDL levels and oxidised LDL/LDL cholesterol ratios of group II were increased compared to control group (p < 0.05).
Conclusions. Intranasal estradiol alone did not appear to have an effect on markers of cardiovascular risk in healthy postmenopausal women. However, the addition of cyclic oral micronized progesterone to intranasal estradiol influenced the markers of cardiovascular risk negatively in comparison to non-users in healthy postmenopausal women.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Dr. Ummuhani Ozel for her important technical contribution in the study. This study was supported by Gazi University, Unit of Scientific Research Projects, Ankara, Turkey with a grant number of 01/2004-001.