Biochemical changes and hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women

Objective- Present study was conducted to ascertain the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in post-menopausal women on degree of oxidative stress by measuring levels of serum malondialdehyde (MDA), an end product of lipid per-oxidation and serum glutathione (GSH), a component of antioxidant defense system and other parameters like fasting blood Sugar (FBS), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Triglycerides(TG), High density lipoprotein (HDL), Low density lipoprotein (LDL) , Total Cholesterol (TC). Design- The present study was carried out on 40 post-menopausal OPD patients, whose menses have ceased for one year, in the range of 35-60 years, the same subjects were then put on HRT for four months in form of oral conjugated equine estrogens, Premarin 0.625mg/day alone or in combination with Medroxy progesterone acetate 2.5 mg, to counteract the negative effect of estrogen. Result- Estrogen resulted in alleviation of oxidative stress as indicated by decreased level of MDA and increased level of GSH. Conclusion- It’s reasonable to suggest that estrogen is acting as antioxidant. Moreover, postmenopausal women who are having a high-risk cardiovascular disease due to oxidative stress and osteoporosis get protected by HRT.