Oestrogen-progestogen replacement therapy changes body composition in early post-menopausal women

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Human Physiology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Menopause is associated with changes in body composition, including potential loss of lean mass and gain of fat mass.
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used to manage menopausal symptoms and may influence body composition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of combined estrogen-progestogen therapy on body composition in post-menopausal women.
• To determine if HRT influences lean body mass and fat mass.
• To explore the relationship between hormone levels and body composition changes.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 136 post-menopausal women.
• Treatment with combined estrogen-progestogen therapy at varying doses or placebo for at least one year.
• Assessment of body composition using urinary creatinine excretion rate as a marker for lean body mass.
• Correlation analysis between changes in creatinine excretion and serum estradiol/estrone levels.

Main Results:

• High-dose hormone therapy significantly increased urinary creatinine excretion rate (P < 0.001).
• The urinary creatinine/body weight ratio increased significantly in all treated groups compared to placebo (P < 0.05).
• Body weight remained unchanged across all groups. Significant correlations were found between changes in creatinine excretion and serum estrogen levels (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• High-dose post-menopausal hormone therapy appears to increase muscle mass.
• The observed increase in muscle mass, with no change in body weight, suggests a compensatory decrease in fat mass.
• Estrogen levels correlate with changes in lean body mass during hormone therapy.