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Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of menopausal status, serum estradiol and body mass index (BMI) on serum leptin concentration in a large sample of pre- and postmenopausal women., Design: 434 healthy women (mean age +/-s.d., 52.2 +/- 10.3 years) were recruited at the University of Marburg on the occasion of a routine gynecological visit. Two hundred and eighteen (50.2%) women were premenopausal (mean age, 36.5 +/- 10.4 years) and not on oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and 216 (49.8%) women were postmenopausal (mean age 61.8 +/- 8.9 years) not on HRT. To evaluate the influence of menopausal status, estradiol level and BMI on serum leptin concentrations, women were allocated to one of the four groups: (a) premenopausal women BMI <25 kg/m(2) (n=137), (b) premenopausal women BMI >25 kg/m(2) (n=81), (c) postmenopausal women BMI <25 kg/m(2) (n=94) and (d) postmenopausal women BMI >25 kg/m(2) (n=122)., Results: Irrespective of the menopausal status, women with a BMI >25 kg/m(2) had significantly higher leptin concentrations in all age groups compared with women with a BMI <25 kg/m(2) (P<0.001). The multiple linear regression analyses showed that BMI was the only statistically significant independent predictor for leptin. In comparison to postmenopausal women, premenopausal women showed a significantly lower mean age, weight, BMI and FSH concentration (P<0. 001), a higher mean height and serum estradiol (P<0.01 and P<0.001 respectively) but significantly lower serum leptin concentration (P<0.01). The multiple linear regression model showed no significant influence of menopausal status or serum estradiol on serum leptin concentration, even after controlling for BMI., Conclusions: Serum leptin concentrations are significantly higher in pre- and postmenopausal obese women, compared with normal weight controls. Serum leptin concentrations are not influenced by menopausal status or serum estradiol level.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of long-term, non-suppressive levothyroxine (L-T(4)) treatment on quantitative ultrasonometry in women., Design: This was a case-control study., Subjects and Methods: Altogether 667 women (mean age+/-s.d., 49.5+/-13.1 years) were studied. Of these, 156 (23%) had non-toxic goitre or hypothyroidism and had been taking L-T(4) (75-100 microg/day) for at least 5 years (mean+/-s.d., 12.5+/-7.5 years); the remaining 511 (77%) women were not receiving L-T(4). All women had completed a questionnaire on risk factors for thyroid dysfunction and osteoporosis, and those with diseases or treatments known to effect bone metabolism - other than thyroxine or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) - were excluded. Women underwent quantitative ultrasonometry (QUS) at the heel. Speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and the stiffness index (SI) were compared, first, in all women taking L-T(4) and controls and, secondly, in women taking L-T(4) and controls pair-matched for age, weight, body mass index (BMI), menopausal status and HRT use., Results: Even after matching for age, weight, BMI, menopausal and HRT status, women taking L-T(4) had significantly lower values for SOS and SI (P<0.05), but not for BUA. However, absolute T- and Z-scores for SI were not low in either the study or control groups. Lower values were associated, but not significantly so, with years since the menopause and duration of L-T(4) treatment., Conclusions: Long-term, non-suppressive L-T(4) treatment in women with goitre or hypothyroidism was associated with a slight reduction in QUS values, which was more pronounced in postmenopausal women. This group could be at higher risk for osteoporotic fracture.