EVALUATION OF LIPIDS AND LIPOPROTEIN LEVELS OF PREMENOPAUSAL AND POST MENOPAUSAL WOMEN IN PORT HARCOURT METROPOLIS

Ebirien-Agana Samuel Bartimaeus* and Stella Urekweru Ken-Ezihuo

ABSTRACT

Background: Menopause is regarded as one of the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Objective: This study was designed to estimate the serum levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, very low density lipoprotein cholesterol and atherogenic index of plasma and Castelli risk index 1 and 11 and the effect of body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) in pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women in Port Harcourt metropolis. Methodology: The lipoproteins, blood pressures and BMI were determined using standard procedures. Results: The mean age of the pre-menopausal women was significantly different (p<0.05) from that of the post-menopausal women. Significant increase (p<0.05) in means of the lipoproteins between the two groups of women was found in TC, HDL-C and LDL-C. Remarkable increase in the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the post-menopausal women up to 40% (hypertensive) above the normal range was observed. Higher percentage of the post-menopausal women were over weight and obese. The AIP and CRI (I and II) ratios between the two groups were seen to be higher in the post-menopausal women. Conclusion: The present study shows that dyslipidaemia, blood pressure and body mass index are significantly associated with menopausal transition. The lipid profile of the post-menopausal women in this study is very unfriendly. Thus, it is proposed that lipoprotein ratios and triglyceride based index (atherogenic index of plasma; AIP) should be routinely done in post-menopausal women since they can add significant diagnostic value when assessing the cardiovascular risk of menopausal women.

Keywords: Lipoprotein, Pre-menopausal, Post-menopausal, Cardiovascular disease, Atherogenic Index of Plasma, Castelli Risk Index.