The General Clinical Research Center of a university hospital.
Patient(s)
Thirty-six postmenopausal women and 26 premenopausal women. Both samples were healthy nonsmokers.
Intervention(s)
Both premenopausal and postmenopausal women were subjected to a 6-minute psychological stressor. Postmenopausal women were randomized to one of three treatment arms: 2 mg of E2 or 2 mg of E2 + 5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), or a placebo, all of which were given orally for 3 months. The psychological stressor was readministered after the 3-month regimen.
Main outcome measure(s)
Plasma total homocysteine levels were measured before and after the psychological stressor on one occasion for premenopausal women and before and after hormone replacement or placebo for postmenopausal women.
Result(s)
There were no significant differences in homocysteine levels between premenopausal (7.2 ± 1.7 μmol/L; mean ± SD) and postmenopausal women (7.9 ± 2.06; mean ± SD). There was no effect of stress or hormone replacement on homocysteine levels.
Conclusion(s)
Psychological stress, menopausal status, and oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT) do not affect plasma total homocysteine levels in women with normal basal homocysteine levels.
aDepartments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
Reprint requests: Noha H. Farag, M.D., University of California, San Diego, Department of Psychiatry, 9500 Gilman Drive, DEPT 0804, La Jolla, California 92093-0804, USA (FAX: 619-543-7519).
☆ Supported by grants AG-13332, MO1-RR00827, and HL-57265 from the National Institutes of Health and an American Psychosomatic Society General Clinical Research Center Award.
ABSTRACT