Correlation between hormonal and lipid status in women in menopause.

It is widely accepted that menopause leads to changes in hormonal status, metabolism and lipid profile. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of menopause on the concentrations of lipids, lipoproteins and, the influence of estradiol, progesterone, FSH, LH on lipid profile in menopausal women as well. The menopausal women had higher but non-significant (p>0,05) concentrations of total cholesterol, VLDL, LDL, and triglycerides than women with regular menstruation. The concentration of HDL was significantly lower in menopausal women than in women with regular menstruation (p<0,05). Also, the concentration of apolipoprotein B was significantly higher in menopausal women (p<0,05), but the concentrations of apolipoprotein and lipoprotein (a) were lower but without significance (p>0,05). Estrogen concentration has significant negative correlation with VLDL and triglycerides (p<0,05) and significant positive correlation with HDL (p<0,05) in menopausal women. Progesterone concentration has shown no correlation with concentrations of lipids and lipoproteins in menopause. We can conclude that menopause leads to changes in lipid profile by reducing HDL, and elevating apolipoprotein B levels, thus increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease. These changes were caused by reduction of estrogen concentrations in menopause.