Metabolic and hormonal effects of post-menopausal oestrogen replacement treatment. I. Glucose, insulin and human growth hormone levels during oral glucose tolerance tests.

Glucose, insulin and growth hormone (GH) levels were measured during 3h oral glucose tolerance tests, performed in two groups of post-menopausal women. Nineteen subjects were given ethinyloestradiol (EOe) 0.05 mg daily and 20 received oestradiol valerinate (OeV) 2 mg daily. The tests were performed twice before treatment and after 1, 3 and 6 cycles of medication. EOe induced a slight but statistically significant deterioration of the glucose tolerance concomitant with a tendency to elevated insulin levels. The women taking OeV showed no significant alteration of the glucose or insulin levels. The GH concentrations were increased in both groups although the elevation was more pronounced in those taking EOe. The reduced carbohydrate tolerance was not believed to have been responsible for the raised GH levels.