Acta Pharm. 51 (2001) 225-231
The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible effect of menopause on homocysteine concentrations and to examine a relationship between serum total homocysteine and major coronary risk factors. The study comprised 90 healthy women divided in two groups according to their menopausal status: premenopausal women and postmenopausal women. Total homocysteine (tHcy), total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG) and glucose were quantified in all women. Blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) were estimated. Serum tHcy concentrations were not significantly higher in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal. BMI, TC and LDL-C were significantly increased, while HDL-C level was significantly decreased in post- as compared to premenopausal women. Remaining risk factors were higher in postmenopausal group too, but not significantly. No correlation between coronary risk factors and tHcy levels in both groups of women was detected except the positive correlation between HDL-C and tHcy in premenopausal women.
Keywords: homocysteine, menopause, coronary risk factors