A prospective two-year study of progestin given alone in postmenopausal women: effect on lipid and metabolic parameters.

Abstract

A controlled study was conducted to assess the long-term effect of a progestin with very low androgenic potency given alone on serum lipoprotein profile, serum renin substrate, sex hormone-binding globulin levels, and serum antithrombin III activity in early postmenopausal women. Thirty-five early postmenopausal women who had not received any form of hormonal treatment after menopause were randomly assigned to a 2-year regimen of 500 micrograms of a progestin derived from 19-norprogesterone (promegestone) or a placebo for 21 days of a 28-day treatment cycle. Serum lipid and lipoprotein levels and other biochemical parameters were measured in the two groups, and differences were sought by statistical analysis. After 2 years of treatment the women in the two groups showed no statistically significant variation from baseline values in the concentrations of any of the biochemical parameters studied. The results show that a progestin with very low androgenic activity given alone has no influence on lipid profile and hepatic synthesis of several proteins in early postmenopausal women.