[The influence of estrogen therapy on triglycerides. Importance of the choice of substance and the route of administration (author's transl)].

The effects of the percutaneous administration of estradiol in circulating lipid levels (triglycerides, cholesterol, total lipids) were studied in 53 post-menopausal women. During treatment, plasma estradiol rose from 20 +/- 15 to 82 +/- 30 microgram/ml, a value identical to that in the normal woman during the follicular phase. Despite this increase in plasma estradion, no increase in blood triglyceride levels was noted. In addition, in the 11 cases where triglycerides were high under basal conditions (1.65 +/- 0.32 g/l) there was a significant fall during the course of treatment from that value to 0.97 +/- 0.16 g/l (p less than 0.001). These changes in triglycerides under the influence of percutaneous estradiol may be contrasted with the hypertriglyceridaemia usually seen in association with the oral administration of synthetic estrogens. The physiopathological implications of these results are discussed.