title: Hormone replacement therapy and circulating ICAM-1 in postmenopausal women--a randomised controlled trial.
abstract: Hormone replacement therapy may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease but underlying mechanism has not been adequately explained. Recent data suggest that intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) plays a critical role in early stage of atherosclerosis and may serve as a molecular marker for the development of arterial disease. We investigated the effects of oral and transdermal cyclic oestradiol combined with progesterone on plasma concentration of soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1). Thirty-seven healthy postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to receive either oral estradiol valerate or transdermal estradiol both combined with micronized progesterone or no hormonal treatment. Plasma sICAM-1 was assayed at baseline and after a 6-month period. Oral but not transdermal estradiol regimen significantly decreased mean value of sICAM-1 compared with no treatment. Differences in sICAM-1 levels between active treatments were significant. There were no significant changes in mean values of fibrinogen between the three groups. Our results show a favorable effect of oral estrogen plus progesterone on a soluble marker of vascular inflammation and may provide plausible explanation for a cardioprotective effect of hormone replacement therapy among healthy postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit U258, Hôpital Broussais, Paris, France. scarabin@vjf.inserm.fr
authors.forename: P Y
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Scarabin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alhenc-Gelas
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oger
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Plu-Bureau
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000368:Aged; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000209:etiology; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D011374:Progesterone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol