The cross-sectional association between vasomotor symptoms and hemostatic parameter levels in postmenopausal women.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) may be a marker of cardiovascular risk. We aimed to evaluate the cross-sectional association of VMS presence and severity with hemostatic parameter levels measured at baseline among Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Hormone Therapy trial postmenopausal participants.

METHODS:

This cross-sectional analysis included 2,148 postmenopausal women with measures of VMS presence and severity reported in the 4 weeks before WHI baseline, who were not using warfarin or hormone therapy and for whom the following baseline hemostatic parameters were measured within the WHI Cardiovascular Disease Biomarker Case-Control Study: antithrombin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, protein C antigen, total and free protein S antigen, total and free tissue factor pathway inhibitor, D-dimer, normalized activated protein C sensitivity ratio, and thrombin generation. Using multiple linear regression, we estimated the adjusted average difference in each hemostatic parameter associated with VMS presence and severity. A multiple comparisons-corrected P value was computed using the P-min procedure to determine statistical significance of our smallest observed P value.

RESULTS:

Women were 67 years of age on average and 33% reported VMS presence at baseline. There was some suggestion that VMS presence may be associated with a -0.34 adjusted difference in normalized activated protein C sensitivity ratio compared with no VMS (95% CI, -0.60 to -0.087; P = 0.009), but this association was not significant after correction for multiple comparisons (P = 0.073). VMS presence or severity was not significantly associated with the other hemostatic parameters.

CONCLUSIONS:

We found no convincing evidence that VMS presence or severity was associated with levels of hemostatic parameters among postmenopausal women.

• Authors: Laura B Harrington, Marc Blondon, Mary Cushman, Andrew M Kaunitz, Jacques E Rossouw, Matthew A Allison, Lisa W Martin, Karen C Johnson, Jan Rosing, Nancy F Woods, Andrea Z LaCroix, Susan R Heckbert, Barbara McKnight, Nicholas L Smith
• Journal: Menopause (New York, N.Y.) (Menopause) Vol. 24 Issue 4 Pg. 360-370 (04 2017) ISSN: 1530-0374 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 27922933 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)

Chemical References

• Antigens
• Antithrombin Proteins
• Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products
• Lipoproteins
• Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1
• Protein C
• Protein S
• fibrin fragment D
• lipoprotein-associated coagulation inhibitor
• Thrombin

Topics

• Aged
• Antigens (blood)
• Antithrombin Proteins (metabolism)
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Female
• Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products (metabolism)
• Hemostasis
• Hot Flashes (blood)
• Humans
• Lipoproteins (blood)
• Middle Aged
• Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 (blood)
• Postmenopause (blood)
• Protein C (immunology)
• Protein S (immunology)
• Severity of Illness Index
• Sweating
• Symptom Assessment
• Thrombin (biosynthesis)