Fasting plasma lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins in Nigerian women using combined oral and progestin-only injectable contraceptives
Oyelola, O.O.
Contraception 47(5): 445-454
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0010-7824 PMID: 8513671 DOI: 10.1016/0010-7824(93)90096-pDocument Number: 327937
Fasting plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoprotein profiles, and apolipoprotein fractions were assayed in 18 Nigerian women taking low-dose, combined oral contraceptive (OC), 16 using an injectable progestin, and in 18 controls. The OC, Lo-Feminal + Fe, contained 30 mcg ethinyl estradiol and 0.3 mg norgestrel, with 7 placebos of 75 mg ferrous fumarate. Depo-Provera (150 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate) was the injectable. Lipids and HDL-cholesterol were determined on a Hitachi 737 automated chemistry analyzer, and apolipoproteins were assayed by ELISA or electroimmunoassay. Total cholesterol, low-density cholesterol (LDL), apo B, and Lp(a) were significantly higher in OC users than in controls, and total cholesterol, LDL, and apo B were also significantly higher in OC users than in injectable users. Cardiovascular disease risk ratios, calculated as total cholesterol/HDL, were significantly higher in OC users than in controls, but these ratios did not differ between injectable users and controls. While LDL and the atherogenic lipoproteins apo B and Lp(a) were higher in these OC users, it is likely that other factors need to be considered, such as age, smoking, blood pressure, and glucose tolerance, to estimate the overall risk of cardiovascular disease for Nigerian OC users.