The effects of hormonal therapy on lipid profile and renal function in diabetic postmenopausal women

M. Sandu, T.L. Hangan, M. Dumitru

Abstract: Aim. Hormonal therapy (HT) has been known to have beneficial effects on cardiovascular outcome in the general population of post-menopausal women. To evaluate the effects of HT on lipid profile and renal factors, we evaluated the changes using different enzymes and inflammatory acute markers in postmenopausal women with diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods. The study was conducted on 190 postmenopausal women from CI Parhon, National Institute of Endocrinology Bucharest who were randomly divided as follows: Group 1 (n=120) placebo, who refused the HT and Group 2 (n=70) those who received HT. The patients from Group 1 were divided in patients with DM (n=21) and patients with normal blood sugar (n=99). The women from the 2nd Group were divided into patients with DM (n=12) and patients with normal blood sugar (n=58). The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), cholesterol, triglicerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), urea and creatinine were analysed. Results. The ESR in the 1st Group without HT showed a reduction comparing with the 2nd Group with HT. Total cholesterol showed to decreased in Group 2 with HT especially on those with normal blood sugar comparing with the 1st Group without HT, sustaining the beneficial effect of HT on lipid enzymes. The lowest value in terms of TG was from the 2nd Group (with HT) with DM comparing with the rest of the values which were similar sustaining in this case also the beneficial effect of HT on lipid profile. In the case of HDL-C, the highest values were recorded in the 2nd Group with HT, sustaining along with cholesterol and TG the same results of beneficial HT effect. When testing the renal function, the urea serum values showed to be decreased in the patients from the 2nd Group with HT, sustaining a better renal function in comparison with the 1st Group without HT. Creatinine showed the lowest values (<1 mg/dl) in the 2nd Group with HT, especially those with normal blood sugar in comparison with the 1st Group, showing the fact that HT could sustain a better glomerular filtration rate. Conclusions. The above results suggest that HT has favorable effects on cardiovascular outcome in postmenopausal women with or without DM based on cholesterol, TG and HDL-C. Regarding the renal function, it was seen that HT could sustain a better function and a normal glomerular filtration rate. However, the present study indicated the need for long-term prospective trials of large number of patients to determine whether HT should be routinely prescribed in postmenopausal women with or without DM.
DOI:10.18643/gieu.2016.75

Keywords: estrogen, cholesterol, triglycerides, urea menopause, diabetes mellitus.