Objective: The activity, localization, and turnover of proteins within cells and plasma may contribute to physiologic changes during menopause and may influence disease occurrence. We examined cross-sectional differences and long-term changes in plasma proteins between premenopausal and naturally postmenopausal women.
Methods: We used data from 4,508 (19% Black) women enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. SOMAscan multiplexed aptamer technology was used to measure 4,697 plasma proteins. Linear regression models were used to compare differences in proteins at baseline (1993-1995) and 18-year change in proteins from baseline to 2011-2013.
Results: At baseline, 472 women reported being premenopausal and 4,036 women reported being postmenopausal, with average ages of 52.3 and 61.4 years, respectively. A greater proportion of postmenopausal women had diabetes (15 vs 9%), used hypertension (38 vs 27%) and lipid-lowering medications (10 vs 3%), and had elevated total cholesterol and waist girth. In multivariable adjusted models, 38 proteins differed significantly between premenopausal and postmenopausal women at baseline, with 29 of the proteins also showing significantly different changes between groups over the 18-year follow-up as the premenopausal women also reached menopause. These proteins were associated with various molecular/cellular functions (cellular development, growth, proliferation and maintenance), physiological system development (skeletal and muscular system development, and cardiovascular system development and function), and diseases/disorders (hematological and metabolic diseases and developmental disorders).
Conclusions: We observed significantly different changes between premenopausal and postmenopausal women in several plasma proteins that reflect many biological processes. These processes may help to understand disease development during the postmenopausal period.
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