Clinical observation of menopause hormone therapy in euthyroid and mild subclinical hypothyroidism postmenopausal women

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the endocrine hormone and metabolic indexes in euthyroid and mild subclinical hypothyroidism postmenopausal women after menopause hormone therapy (MHT). Methods: A retrospective study was conducted including 587 postmenopausal women received MHT, whose median (25-75th percentile) age was 52.00 (49.00–54.00) years. According to the state of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level at the initial diagnosis, the patients were divided into three groups: I (euthyroid with low normal TSH range, n = 460), II (euthyroid with upper normal TSH range, n = 106) and III (mild subclinical hypothyroidism, n = 21). After continuous oral MHT regimen used same potency of estradiol for 6–18 month cycles, serum endocrine hormone and metabolic indexes were reassessed. Results: Compared with baseline, serum TSH level in group I and II changed with significant difference, but all values were within the normal range, no significant difference was found of serum TSH level in group III. After treatment, all serum free triiodothyronine and free thyroxine levels were within the normal range. Serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin levels and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index were decreased in group I with significant differences. All lipid and glucose parameters were found no significant differences in group III before and after treatment. Conclusions: MHT did not affect thyroid function in euthyroid and mild subclinical hypothyroidism women. MHT led to an improvement of lipid and glucose indicators in euthyroid women with low normal TSH range.