title: The effect of low dose zinc supplementation to serum estrogen and progesterone levels in post-menopausal women.
abstract: The objective of the present study is to investigate how low-dose zinc supplementation for 2 weeks in the post-menopausal period influences levels of estrogen and progesterone in the serum. The study registered 32 natural menopause patients, who were allocated to four groups with equal number of patients. Group 1, control group, which was not subjected to any procedure. Group 2, the group that was supplemented with 15 mg/day zinc sulfate for 2 weeks. Group 3, the group that was given hormone replacement therapy (0.625 mg estrogen + 5 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate/day) for 2 weeks. Group 4, the group that received hormone replacement therapy (0.625 mg estrogen + 5 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate/day) and zinc sulfate (15 mg/day) for 2 weeks. Blood samples were collected twice from each subject, once at the beginning of the study, and once at the end of the 4-week procedure to determine estrogen (E2) and progesterone levels. Variance analysis was employed in the statistical evaluation of data. Level of significance was set at p < 0.05. No significant difference was found between the estrogen and progesterone levels of groups 1 and 2. Groups 3 and 4 had higher estrogen and progesterone levels than groups 1 and 2 (p < 0.05). Estrogen and progesterone levels in groups 3 and 4 were not different. Results of the study show that low-dose zinc supplementation to post-menopausal women for 2 weeks does not have a significant effect on the concerned parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Selcuk University Meram Medical School, Konya, Turkey. fusunar@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Fusun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sunar
authors.forename: Zulfikare Isik
authors.initials: ZI
authors.lastname: Gormus
authors.forename: Abdulkerim Kasim
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Baltaci
authors.forename: Rasim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mogulkoc