© 2002 by European Society of Cardiology
Copyright © 2002, European Society of Cardiology
Female gender, menstrual cycle and estradiol affect plasma levels of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) in humans
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, and Department of Blood Group Serology and Transfusion Medicine, University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18–20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
bernd.jilma{at}univie.ac.at
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +43-1-40400-2980; fax: +43-1-40400-2998
Received 8 May 2002; accepted 29 May 2002
With great interest we have read the publication by Störk et al. [1] showing that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) decreased plasma levels of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) in humans: HRT lowered MCP-1 levels by approximately 17% in hypercholesterolemic women with borderline hypertension after 12 months of therapy (treatment consisted of 1 mg/d estradiol plus 25 µg gestodene for 12 days either every month or every 3 months).
In their list of limitations the authors state that no comparison has been made between premenopausal women and men. Yet, this is not a limitation since we have reported, even before the submission of their manuscript, that premenopausal women have significantly lower MCP-1 levels than men [2]. In addition, MCP-1 levels decrease by approximately 15% from the follicular to the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. This diminution in MCP-1 is of similar magnitude as the estradiol effects on MCP-1 levels in postmenopausal women [2]. Taken together, these studies suggest that female sex hormones decrease MCP-1 levels, which could have cardioprotective effects.
Administration of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors also decreases MCP-1 levels in humans with coronary artery disease [3] or hypertension [4]. As both estrogens and ACE-I have been suggested to increase nitric oxide (NO) production, it will be interesting to see whether a synergistic effect can be observed between estrogens and ACE-I on MCP-1 plasma levels.
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- Störk S., Baumann K., von Schacky C., Angerer P. The effect of 17β-estradiol on MCP-1 serum levels in postmenopausal women. Cardiovasc Res (2002) 53:642–649.
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Jilma-Stohlawetz P., Homoncik M., Drucker C., et al. The Duffy (Fy) antigen phenotype and gender determine plasma levels of monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP-1). Transfusion (2001) 41:378–381.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
- Soejima H., Ogawa H., Yasue H., et al. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition reduces monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and tissue factor levels in patients with myocardial infarction. J Am Coll Cardiol (1999) 34:983–988.
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Jilma B, Li-Saw-Hee Fl, Wagner OF, Beevers DG, Lip GYH. Effects of enalapril and losartan on circulating adhesion molecules and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) in hypertensive patients. Clin Sci (in press).
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