Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of women, yet prior research has failed to provide any clear understanding of the gender gap wherein women appear to be relatively protected from CVD while premenopausal, compared to men. Recent randomized trials of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), described below, have failed to demonstrate CVD benefit, and call into question the """"""""estrogen protection"""""""" hypothesis. Alternative explanations for the gender gap, e.g., androgen exposure, have not been explored. This application, developed in response to the NHLBI's Innovative Research Grant Program Request for Application HL-01-016 and using existing data sets and biological specimens, is designed to support collaborative feasibility research in an innovative and high impact area relevant to CVD in women. The overall aim of this application is to use the existing data and stored blood samples from the NHLBI-sponsored Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study (LAAS, HL-490-10) to explore new and innovative hypotheses with regard to reproductive hormones and progression of pre-clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD), measured by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), in the 269 women (45% minority) in the Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study (LAAS), an ongoing NHLBI-sponsored study of employed utility workers in Southern California without CVD at study entry. Hormonal assays will be performed on stored samples by a NHLBI Reproductive Hormone Core Laboratory, and subsequent analyses will characterize relationships to carotid IMT measured by the LAAS Ultrasound Core Laboratory. The following hypotheses will be test ed: 1) Reproductive hormonal profiles characterized by a relative estrogen deficiency and/or relative androgen excess will be directly correlated with increased baseline carotid IMT and predict greater carotid IMT progression over time in women; 2) Reproductive hormone effects on carotid IMT progression will be observed dominantly in situations of intimal injury, e.g. cigarette smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension or diabetes in women. Innovative aspects of this application include evaluation of reproductive hormones repeatedly and prospectively in women across the spectrum of menopause (pre-, peri- and post-) using innovative methodologies including the sensitive reproductive hormonal assays used in the NHLBI-sponsored Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) core laboratory, and a newer quantitative carotid intimal media thickness (carotid IMT) protocol from the NHLBI-sponsored LAAS. The current application represents an opportunity to gain feasibility pilot data in the area of the role of reproductive hormones and CVD in women using novel measures and a collaborative approach in order to plan further investigation, if warranted.
