Impact of age and menopausal status on the postprandial triacylglycerol response in healthy women.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the impact of age and the natural menopause on the postprandial triacylglycerol (TAG) response in healthy women.


RESULTS
Thirty-seven premenopausal and sixty-one postmenopausal women underwent a sequential meal postprandial investigation, in which blood samples were taken at regular intervals after a test breakfast and lunch given at 0 and 330 min respectively. Lipids and glucose were measured in the fasting sample, with TAG analysed in the postprandial samples. Postmenopausal women were shown to have higher fasting total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and glucose (P<0.02). Marked differences in the postprandial TAG response were evident between the groups, with a greater incremental area under the curve (IAUC) and maximum TAG concentration in the postmenopausal women (P<0.04). Multivariate regression analysis revealed both age and fasting TAG to be independently associated with the summary measures of the postprandial TAG response in the premenopausal women only. Interestingly, sub-division of the women into both younger and older pre- and postmenopausal subgroups, showed the most marked difference in TAG-IAUC to be between the younger and the older premenopausal women, whereas differences in fasting LDL-C were most evident between the older premenopausal and the younger postmenopausal women.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest a divergence in the relationship of age and menopausal status with fasting LDL-C and postprandial TAG which may reflect differences in the metabolic effects of age and the menopause on these lipid risk markers or a greater impact of early oestrogen decline on pathways of TAG rather than LDL metabolism.
Jackson
Kim G
KG
Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, Department of Food Biosciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
Abraham
Elizheeba C
EC
Smith
Adrian M
AM
Murray
Peter
P
O'Malley
Brendan
B
Williams
Christine M
CM
Minihane
Anne M
AM
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019518:Postprandial Period; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*
D014280:Triglycerides