title: Comparison of forearm endothelial function between premenopausal and postmenopausal women with or without hypercholesterolemia.
abstract: We sought to determine whether menopausal status or postmenopausal hypercholesterolemia affects forearm resistance artery endothelial function. We studied the forearm resistance artery endothelial function in 75 Japanese women: 25 premenopausal volunteers, 25 postmenopausal women with normal serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations, and 25 hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women. Excluded from the study were patients with hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, or diabetes, cigarette smokers. The forearm blood flow (FBF) during reactive hyperemia and after sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG) administration was measured by strain-gauge plethysmography. The serum concentrations of lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] were significantly higher in the hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal group than in the other two groups (P<0.01). These lipid parameters were similar between the premenopausal and postmenopausal women with normal cholesterol. The FBF responses to reactive hyperemia were significantly lower in the postmenopausal hypercholesterolemic women than in the other two groups (P<0.01). The reactive hyperemia also was impaired in the postmenopausal group with normal cholesterol as compared with the premenopausal group (P<0.01). Increases in FBF after NTG were similar between the three groups. By stepwise multivariate analysis, menopausal status and serum LDL cholesterol was the significant predictor of forearm endothelial function. These findings suggest that reactive hyperemia is impaired in forearm resistance arteries after menopause, especially in postmenopausal women with hypercholesterolemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan. msanada64@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanada
authors.forename: Yukihito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Higashi
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Nobutaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chayama
authors.forename: Koso
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm / Q000098:blood supply; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D005996:Nitroglycerin / Q000494:pharmacology; D010991:Plethysmography; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D017697:Premenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D014655:Vascular Resistance; D014664:Vasodilation; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D005996:Nitroglycerin