Differential lipemic and proteinemic response to oral ethinyl estradiol and parenteral estradiol cypionate

Oral synthetic estrogen administration to normal women has been shown to result in both a lipemic and a proteinemic response. To determine whether parenteral estrogen administration would have similar results, the effects of intramuscular depo-estradiol cypionate on serum lipids and ceruloplasmin were examined. The oral and parenteral estrogens chosen for this study are frequently used therapeutically and varying doses in the range of those commonly employed clinically were given to the experimental subjects. Following oral ethinyl estradiol (20, 50, and 100 μg every 12 hr) comparable and significant increases in triglyceride (73 ± 6 to 128 ± 10 mg/dl, p < .001), ceruloplasmin (87 ± 4 to 188 ± 11 mg/dl, p < .001), and HDL-cholesterol (60 ± 2 to 74 ± 3 mg/dl, p < .001) were observed. In contrast, despite substantial increases in serum estrogens, parenteral estrogen administration (depo-estradiol cypionate, 5 and 10 mg) failed to result in alterations in any of the measured parameters. Thus, the route and/or type of estrogen administered may determine the proteinemic and lipemic effects of estrogen in man.