Serum lipids and lipoproteins in continuous or cyclic medroxyprogesterone acetate treatment in postmenopausal women treated with conjugated estrogens

This study evaluates effects on serum lipids of continuous or sequential progestogens for hormonal replacement in women. Subjects received either a cyclic regimen of replacement (0.625 mg/d of conjugated equine estrogens (Es) for 25 days/month and 10 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate [MPA] for the last 13 days of E) or 0.625 mg/d E along with either 5 or 10 mg MPA (Provera, Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, MI). Study parameters were measured over a 24-week period. No differences in total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoproteins I and II, sex hormone-binding globulin, or serum MPA levels were noted between the sequential and 5 mg continuous group. The 10 mg MPA group did not have an increase in HDL or decrease in low-density lipoprotein as did the other groups.