Abstract
BackgroundThe risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in women rapidly increase with age in post-menopausal women. We aimed to investigate the lipid profiles in peri-menopausal women with cerebral infarction and to explore the effects of atorvastatin intervention.MethodsWe collected women aged 40-60 with cerebral infarction between January 2013 and December 2016. Atorvastatin was applied for 6 months in all included patients. Blood lipid profiles, serum pro-inflammation cytokines, intracranial plaque and NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) scores were evaluated before and after atorvastatin treatment.ResultsTotally 210 patients were included. Before atorvastatin treatment, post-menopausal patients had significantly higher levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and a reduced level of high-density lipoprotein than those in pre-menopausal patients. Blood levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α were higher in post-menopausal patients, who had larger intracranial plaques than pre-menopausal patients. Consistently, post-menopausal patients had higher NIHSS scores than pre-menopausal ones. Atorvastatin reduced NIHSS scores and improved dyslipidemia in patients and eliminated the differences of these parameters between pre- and post-menopausal patients.ConclusionsPost-menopausal patients were severer than pre-menopausal patients in terms of dyslipidemia, systemic inflammation and NIHSS scores. Atorvastatin may be beneficial for women with cerebral infarction.
Highlights
The risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in women rapidly increase with age in post-menopausal women
We evaluated the systemic inflammation in the two groups by testing three critical pro-inflammatory cytokines in the peripheral blood of patients
It is well known that post-menopausal women have a high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases due to dyslipidemia, and statins are recommended for treatment of dyslipidemia and for prevention of dyslipidemia-related diseases including cerebral infarction
Summary
The risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in women rapidly increase with age in post-menopausal women. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated the difference of lipid profiles between pre- and post-menopausal women, showing increased levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol (TC), and a decreased level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) [3, 4]. These menopause-related alterations of lipid profile were proved to be associated with the rate of cardiovascular events, though contradictory results existed [5, 6]. Estrogen can maintain a high level of HDL cholesterol and low levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (TG) [8]
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