Raloxifene decreases serum malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels in postmenopausal women with end‐stage renal disease under chronic hemodialysis therapy

Abstract

We prospectively aimed to investigate the relationship between raloxifene administration and serum malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglyceride levels in postmenopausal women undergoing hemodialysis treatment for chronic renal failure. Twenty-four women scheduled for twice-weekly hemodialysis treatment were given 60 mg/day raloxifene for 3 months. Serum MDA, estimated NO, HDL, and LDL measurements were assessed initially and at month 3. We used the Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for comparisons. Five women discontinued the study. After controlling for baseline characteristics, mean serum MDA and estimated NO levels decreased (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0001, respectively) from 2.01 +/- 0.40 micromol/L and 21.3 +/- 17.9 micromol/L at baseline to 1.27 +/- 0.23 micromol/L and 7.7 +/- 7.5 micromol/L at month 3, respectively. Mean serum LDL level declined (P = 0.004) from 120.0 +/- 24.3 mg/dL to 103.3 +/- 12.1 mg/dL, and mean HDL level increased (P = 0.024) from 52.2 +/- 7.8 mg/dL to 57.2 +/- 5.7 mg/dL with raloxifene administration. Oral raloxifene administration (60 mg/day) for 3 months lowered serum MDA and NO levels with favorable effects on serum lipid parameters in postmenopausal women, who were undergoing long-term hemodialysis treatment for chronic renal failure.