Lipid profile changes during the menopausal transition

Abstract

Objectives:There is evidence that the menopausal transition in women is accompanied by changes in themetabolic profile. We evaluated the lipid profile during the perimenopause to postmenopause transition and itsassociation with menopausal status.Methods:This is a retrospective observational study of laboratory studies from women presenting to thegynecology unit of Hospital Quiro ́ n Salud, Madrid (2007-2018) with irregular menstruation, amenorrhea ormenopausal symptoms. Inclusion criteria were one or more blood samples with determinations of fasting glucoseand lipids (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-c], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol[HDL-c] and triglycerides [TGs]) from women with a menopause diagnosis recorded in the hospital database. Thedeterminations were classified as perimenopausal or postmenopausal based on the date of last menstruation.Results:In total, 13,517 laboratory studies (3,073 perimenopausal and 10,444 postmenopausal) from 275 womenwere analyzed. Total cholesterol, LDL-c, and TG levels were significantly higher in postmenopausal women than inperimenopausal women, whereas HDL-c levels were significantly lower (P<0.05 in all cases). Further adjustmentby age showed differences only in LDL-c levels. Menopausal status, TG levels, and the number of pregnancies wereindependently related with total cholesterol and LDL-c levels. HDL-c levels were independently affected bymenopausal age, TG levels, and number of pregnancies. Finally, TG concentration was independently affected bytotal cholesterol, LDL-c, and HDL-c levels.Conclusion:Our study suggests that significant changes in LDL-c levels occur during the menopausal transition.Total cholesterol and LDL-c changes are independently affected by menopausal status and HDL-c is influenced bymenopausal age.