Original Clinical	Horm Metab Res 2005; 37: 226-230 DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-861382
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York
Effect of Hormone Replacement Therapy on the Production of Bone-resorbing Cytokines by Peripheral Blood Cells in Postmenopausal Women
H.  Uemura1, M.  Kamada1, M.  Maegawa1, Y.  Ohmoto2, K.  Murata2, A.  Kuwahara1, T.  Matsuzaki1, T.  Yasui1, T.  Takeji1, M.  Irahara1
1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima, Tokushima 2 Cellular Technology Institute, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokushima, Japan

Abstract

We studied the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with estrogen on postmenopausal changes in the production of bone-resorbing cytokines interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα). Both cytokines were measured in the supernatants of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated whole-blood cells from 72 untreated and 44 HRT-treated women by ELISA. The levels of IL-1β were significantly higher in women in their 40 s and 50 s and in postmenopausal women than in women in their teens, 20 s and 30 s, while the levels of TNFα did not show any changes related to age. Both levels in HRT-treated women were significantly lower than those in untreated women at almost every postmenopausal stage. In a prospective study, HRT induced significant declines in both levels. These results show that estrogen decreases the accelerated production of IL-1β and reduces the production of TNFα in postmenopausal women at each postmenopausal stage, even in late-postmenopausal women.

Key words

HRT - Postmenopause - IL-1β - TNFα - Whole-blood cells