Abstract
Objective
Combined oral contraceptives (COCs) containing ethinyl-estradiol are known to increase
blood pressure (BP). We evaluated whether COCs containing estradiol (E2) influence
24-h ambulatory BP and heart rate (HR) in normotensive and normal-weight women.
Study design
Twenty-four-hour BP and HR were measured every 30 min with an ambulatory BP device
in 18 normotensive healthy non-smoking women prior to (Days 3–6 of menstrual cycle)
and after 6 months of use (Days 20–24 of cycle 6) of a COC containing either a quadriphasic
combination of E2 valerate plus dienogest (n=11) or a monophasic association of micronized E2 plus nomegestrol acetate (n=7).
Results
Mean age and body mass index of the final sample were 32.50±7.49 years and 22.87±4.08,
respectively. E2-based COCs induced no modification of 24-h systolic BP (+1.65±8.34 mmHg; p=.41), diastolic BP (+0.04±7.36 mmHg; p=.98), mean BP (+0.64±6.42 mmHg; p=.68) or HR (−0.72±5.86 beats/min; p=.61). Differences were not observed even when daytime or nighttime
values were separately considered. Though this was not a comparative study, we did
not find differences between the effects of the two formulations (24-h mean BP; p=.699).
Conclusions
These data suggest a neutral effect of estradiol-based COCs on independent risk factors
for cardiovascular diseases such as BP or HR.
Implications
BP and HR of normotensive women are not increased by E2-based COCs.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 23, 2014
Accepted:
May 21,
2014
Received in revised form:
May 12,
2014
Received:
January 13,
2014
Footnotes
☆Acknowledgements of funding sources: This study was supported by University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (grant E91J07000220007), Modena, Italy.
☆☆Conflict of interest notification page: Adhering in principle to the Conflict of Interest policy recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, all the authors state explicitly that there do not exist potential conflicts of interest for this research work.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
