Relationship of urinary cGMP excretion with aging and menopausal status in a general population.
OBJECTIVE
Aging and postmenopausal women are associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease; however, epidemiological evidence concerning the relationship of aging and the menopause with vascular biological activity is limited.


METHODS
We investigated the relationship of aging and the menopause with urinary excretion of cyclic guanosine 3',5' monophosphate (cGMP) in 1,541 Japanese men and women aged 40 to 79 years. The 24-hour urinary excretion of cGMP was measured with a (125)I-labeled cGMP radioimmunoassay and was adjusted for urinary creatinine excretion (nmol/mmol creatinine).


RESULTS
Aging was positively associated with urinary excretion of cGMP for both sexes. Postmenopausal women excreted significantly less urinary cGMP than premenopausal women after adjustment for age and other cardiovascular risk factors: 48.3+/-0.04 nmol/mmol vs. 61.5+/-0.07 nmol/mmol, p=0.006.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that cGMP-related vasodilatation is impaired in postmenopausal women.
Cui
Renzhe
R
Public Health, Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Osaka University, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
Iso
Hiroyasu
H
Yamagishi
Kazumasa
K
Ohira
Tetsuya
T
Tanigawa
Takeshi
T
Kitamura
Akihiko
A
Kiyama
Masahiko
M
Imano
Hironori
H
Konishi
Masamitsu
M
Shimamoto
Takashi
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000652:urine*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008593:Menopause / Q000652:urine*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014664:Vasodilation
D006152:Cyclic GMP