EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM ESTROGEN THERAPY ON SERUM CHOLESTEROL AND PHOSPHOLIPIDS IN MEN WITH MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Abstract

Determinations of serum cholesterol and phospholipids were made before and at intervals during treatment with placebo, ethinyl estradiol, Premarin (conjugated estrogen) or Manvene (3-methoxy-16 [alpha]-methyl-l,3,5(10)-estriene-16[beta]-17[beta]-diol) in 106 men with coronary artery disease. Estrogen dosage approximated the limit of ready acceptance of the medication by the individual patient. After 90 days of therapy the effects of estrogen on the serum lipids appeared to be maximal, and tended neither to increase nor decrease thereafter. The effects of the 3 drugs appeared to be similar. Under estrogen therapy, initially high levels of cholesterol and the C/P (cholesterol/ phospholipid) ratio tended to fall markedly, while initially low levels tended to remain low or even to rise. These changes differed significantly from those observed in the untreated controls. Changes similar in kind and amount in the phospholipids under estrogen therapy may be real, but they failed to attain statistical significance in comparison with the untreated controls. These observations of an essentially "normalizing" effect of estrogen therapy on the serum lipids confirm in male subjects similar findings previously reported in postmenopausal females.