Objectives: To evaluate the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on lipids and lipoproteins in postmenopausal women with coronary artery disease.
Setting: In this single-centre, controlled and randomized study taking place in a tertiary referral clinic, patients were examined at baseline, and after 3 and 12 months. All analyses were performed examiner-blind.
Subjects: Postmenopausal women (n = 118) with angiographically verified coronary artery disease were recruited consecutively from patients referred for investigational procedures due to coronary artery disease.
Interventions: The women were randomized to HRT, i.e. transdermal application of continuous 17-beta oestradiol with cyclic medroxyprogesterone actetate tablets every 3rd month for 14 days, or to a control group.
Main outcomes: Effects on lipids and lipoproteins.
Results: After 3 months of unopposed oestradiol, triglycerides decreased significantly compared to the control group (P = 0.006). Sequential administration of medroxyprogesterone caused a decrease in HDL cholesterol (P = 0.01), concomitantly with a decrease in ApoA1 lipoproteins (P = 0.007). No other changes in lipids or lipoproteins were observed. After 12 months of therapy, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in lipid or lipoprotein levels. Concomitant statin treatment did not alter the main findings.
Conclusions: In postmenopausal women with established coronary artery disease in whom the majority is treated with statins, no additional effect of HRT on lipids or lipoproteins could be observed except for a transient decrease in triglycerides in the initial unopposed oestradiol phase. No deleterious effect could be observed during medroxyprogesterone administration except for a small transient decrease in HDL cholesterol and ApoA1 lipoproteins.