Hormone replacement therapy decreases insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in Japanese postmenopausal women with impaired and normal glucose tolerance.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of combined estrogen and progesterone therapy on insulin resistance (IR) and carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in postmenopausal women (PMW) with impaired (IGT) and normal glucose tolerance (NGT).


METHODS
Sixteen Japanese PMW with IGT and 33 with NGT received daily oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT; 0.625 mg of conjugated equine estrogen plus 2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate) for 12 months. As controls, 13 Japanese PMW with IGT and 31 with NGT were enrolled and not treated by HRT. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting immunoreactive insulin (IRI), and IR were measured in each subject at study initiation and 12 months later. We used homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) to determine IR.


RESULTS
FPG and HOMA IR were decreased in both HRT groups, and fasting IRI was reduced in the HRT-NGT group. In controls, FPG, fasting IRI, and HOMA IR were unaltered. Total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was increased in both HRT groups, but triglyceride was unchanged. In controls, lipid metabolism was unaltered.


CONCLUSIONS
HRT decreased IR and improved carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in Japanese PMW with IGT and NGT. These beneficial effects argue for the use of HRT in PMW with IGT as well as NGT.
Sumino
Hiroyuki
H
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan. suminoh@med.gunma-u.ac.jp
Ichikawa
Shuichi
S
Itoh
Hiromaro
H
Utsugi
Toshihiro
T
Ohyama
Yoshio
Y
Umeda
Mamoru
M
Nakamura
Tetsuya
T
Kanda
Tsugiyasu
T
Mizunuma
Hideki
H
Tomono
Shoichi
S
Murakami
Masami
M
Kurabayashi
Masahiko
M
D044466:Asian People; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005215:Fasting / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D008055:Lipids