Plasma Lipid and Lipoprotein Profiles in Pre- and Post-menopausal Middle-aged Runners

Abstract

Summary. Plasma lipid and lipoprotein profiles were compared in middle‐aged trained and untrained women before and after menopause. Subjects were assigned to one of four groups: (1) pre‐menopausal trained (Pre‐T: n= 17, aged 42 ±5 years, body fat 19±5%, training distance 53 ±20 km week‐1, V̇o 2max 49 ±4 ml kg‐1 min‐1, mean±SD); (2) pre‐menopausal untrained (Pre‐UT: n= 26, 42 ±5 years, 24 ±7%, 34 ±6 ml kg‐1 min‐1); (3) post‐menopausal trained (Post‐T: n= 16, 54 ±3 years, 20 ±4%, 43 ±19 km week‐1, 41 ±5 ml kg‐1 min‐1); and (4) post‐menopausal untrained (Post‐UT: n= 15, 55 ±3 years, 25 ±6%, 31 ±3 ml kg‐1 min‐1). There were no significant differences in total cholesterol (range 173–194 mg dl‐1), triglyceride (56–72 mg dl‐1), and HDL‐cholesterol (HDLC: 76–85 mg dl‐1) among the four groups. LDL‐cholesterol (LDLC) in the post‐menopausal women (Post‐T: 96 ±32 mg dl‐1; Post‐UT: 104 ±23 mg dl‐1) tended to be higher than in the premenopausal women (Pre‐T: 86 ± 25 mg dl‐1, Pre‐UT: 81 ± 23 mg dl‐1). LDLC/HDLC ratio in Post‐UT (1·42 ±0·38 unit) was higher than in the pre‐menopausal women (Pre‐T: 1·03±0·31 unit, P<0·01; Pre‐UT: 1·10±0·38 unit, P<0·05), whereas the ratio in Post‐T (1·20 ±0·38 unit) was not different from those of the pre‐menopausal groups. These results suggest that endurance running protects against the increase in LDLC/HDLC ratio that frequently occurs after menopause.