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Effect of the Combination of Methyltestosterone and Esterified Estrogens Compared with Esterified Estrogens Alone on Apolipoprotein CIII and Other Apolipoproteins in Very Low Density, Low Density, and High Density Lipoproteins in Surgically Postmenopausal Women

Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health (S.E.C., L.A.M., F.M.S.), and Channing Laboratory and Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School (F.M.S.), Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Frank M. Sacks, M.D., Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115. E-mail: fsacks{at}hsph.harvard.edu.

Androgens are known to lower plasma triglycerides, an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). Triglycerides are carried in plasma on very low density (VLDL) and low density (LDL) lipoprotein particles. Apolipoprotein CIII (apoCIII), a strong predictor of CHD, impairs the metabolism of VLDL and LDL, contributing to increased triglycerides. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of oral methyltestosterone (2.5 mg/d), added to esterified estrogens (1.25 mg/d), on concentrations of apolipoproteins and lipoproteins, specifically those containing apoCIII, compared with esterified estrogens alone in surgically postmenopausal women. The women in the methyltestosterone plus esterified estrogen group had significant decreases in total triglycerides, apoCI, apoCII, apoCIII, apoE, and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol compared with those in the esterified estrogen group. The decreases in apoCIII concentrations occurred in VLDL (62%; P = 0.02), LDL (35%; P = 0.001), and HDL (17%; P < 0.0001). There were also decreases in cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations of apoCIII containing LDL, and apoCI concentration of apoCIII containing VLDL. There was no effect on VLDL and LDL particles that did not contain apoCIII or on apoB concentrations. In conclusion, methyltestosterone, when administered to surgically postmenopausal women taking esterified estrogen, has a selective effect to reduce the apoCIII concentration in VLDL and LDL, a predictor of CHD. Methyltestosterone may lower plasma triglycerides through a reduction in apoCIII.

This work was supported by an investigator-initiated grant from Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Marietta, GA).

Abbreviations: apo, Apolipoprotein; CHD, coronary heart disease; HDL, high density lipoprotein; LDL, low density lipoprotein; VLDL, very low density lipoprotein.