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Oestrogen-Androgen Replacement Significantly Benefits Postmenopausal Women

Oestrogen-androgen replacement therapy can improve body composition, lower-body muscle strength, quality of life and sexual functioning in postmenopausal women with no noteworthy side-effects, say researchers.

Menopause is associated with reduced lean body mass and increased fat due to ageing and declining hormone secretion. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, and Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc., Marietta, Georgia, noted that oestrogens or oestrogen-progestins had been used to alleviate vasomotor symptoms but that oestrogen-androgen therapy, also used for vasomotor symptom relief, had been shown to increase lean body mass while reducing fat mass.

They conducted a 16-week, double-blind, randomised, parallel group clinical trial in 40 postmenopausal women of mean age 57 years. The study examined the effects on body composition of esterified oestrogen 1.25 mg/day plus methyltestosterone 2.5 mg/day versus esterified oestrogen 1.25 mg/day alone.

Compared with oestrogen alone, oestrogen-androgen significantly increased total lean body mass and reduced the percentage fat for all body parts, lean body mass increased by 1.232 kg. (2.72 lb). Of this, 0.181 ± 0.004 kg. (0.40 ± 0.009 lb.) was in the upper body, 0.81 kg. ± 0.057 kg. (1.79 lb. ± 0.13 lb.) was in the trunk and 0.24 ± 0.009 kg. (0.53 ± 0.02 lb.) was in the lower body.

In those who received oestrogen only, the increases were 0.31 ± 0.004 kg.( 0.68 ± 0.009 lb.) in the upper body, 0.021 kg. ± 0.03 kg. (0.05 ± 0.07 lb.) in the trunk and 0.056 kg. ± 0.05 kg. (0.12 ± 0.11 lb.) in the lower body.

In the oestrogen-androgen group, body fat was reduced by 0.90 kg. (1.98 lb.), with body fat declining by 7.4 percent. Lower body strength increased by 23.1 kg. (50.9 lb.) in the oestrogen-androgen group compared with 11 kg. (24.25 lb.) in the oestrogen only group.

There was a statistically significant increase in weight in the oestrogen-androgen group (2.7 ± 5.1 lb.) (1.22 ± 2.31 kg.) compared with the oestrogen only group (0.1 ± 4.6 lb.) (0.045 ± 2.09 kg.).

In self-reporting questionnaires, women who received oestrogen-androgen noted more improvement in sexual functioning and quality of life than the women who received oestrogen alone.
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2002;87(4):1509-1516. "Differential Effects of Oral Estrogen versus Oral Estrogen-Androgen Replacement Therapy on Body Composition in Postmenopausal Women"

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