Abstract
Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) continue to be a major cause of death among post-menopausal women. We sought to assess cardiovascular risk among pre- and post-menopausal women living within the Cape Coast Municipality by comparing the lipid profiles and other emerging biomarkers of CVD, i.e. the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), visceral adiposity index (VAI), body adiposity index (BAI) and Castelli index I (CRI-I). Methods: A comparative cross-section of 150 women (75 pre-menopausal women and 75 post-menopausal women) visiting the University of Cape Coast hospital for regular checkups were randomly recruited into the study. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of participants were obtained with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Blood pressure (BP) was measured and lipid profile was estimated using fasting blood samples. Other markers of cardiovascular risk such as BMI, AIP, VAI, BAI and CRI-I were estimated. Results: We report elevated levels of total cholesterol (TC) (p<0.0001), low density lipoprotein (LDL) (p<0.0001), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) (p=0.0021), triglycerides (TG) (p<0.0001) and non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL-C) cholesterol (p<0.0001) in post-menopausal women compared with pre-menopausal women. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) (p<0.0001) was, however, decreased in post-menopausal women. Mean AIP (p< 0.0001), VAI (p< 0.0001), BAI (p< 0.0038) and CRI-I (p<0.0001) were significantly increased in post-menopausal women compared to pre-menopausal women. We also report a positive correlation of TC, TG, VLDL and non-HDL with atherogenic markers AIP, VAI and CRI-I in post-menopausal women. A negative correlation of HDL with AIP, VAI, and CR in post-menopausal women was also observed. Conclusions: Menopause could lead to changes in lipid profile to atherogenicity with associated increase in the risk of CVD. Atherogenic markers such as AIP, VAI, BAI, and CR can serve as potential biomarkers for predicting CVD.
Highlights
Menopause is a permanent physiological state with cessation of menstruation attributable to the loss of ovarian function and reduction in the production of estrogen[1]
In post-menopausal women, we report a positive correlation of total cholesterol (TC) with all the cardiovascular and atherogenic markers except High-density lipoprotein (HDL)-C whilst high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) on the other hand showed a significant negative correlation with all the atherogenic and cardiovascular markers with the exception of body adiposity index (BAI), which wasn’t significant (Figure 1)
Available evidence shows that as HDL-C increases by 0.026 mmol/ml, there is a reduction in risk of cardiovascular diseases, with a 4.7% decrease in mortality rate of CVD25
Summary
Menopause could lead to changes in lipid profile to atherogenicity with associated increase in the risk of CVD. Atherogenic markers such as AIP, VAI, BAI, and CR can serve as potential biomarkers for predicting CVD. Keywords Atherogenicity, menopause, Lipid profile, cardiovascular diseases
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
