Objective: To determine whether hormonal status may affect neuropeptide Y (NPY), galanin, and leptin release in postmenopausal women and in young women.
Design: Forty-eight postmenopausal women aged 47-65 years and 35 young women aged 26-39 years were investigated.
Results: Plasma leptin concentrations increased with increasing body mass index in both young and postmenopausal women and were significantly higher in obese postmenopausal women than in obese young women (p < 0.01). Plasma NPY levels in obese young and postmenopausal women were significantly higher than in lean women (p < 0.01 and p < 0.01, respectively) and were significantly higher in obese and nonobese postmenopausal women than in young women (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively). Plasma galanin levels in postmenopausal women, both lean and overweight, were significantly lower than in young women (p < 0.01 andp < 0.01, respectively). In obese postmenopausal women, plasma galanin concentrations were lower without differing significantly from those in obese young women. However, they were significantly higher than that in lean postmenopausal women (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Our results suggest that the differences is plasma leptin, NPY, and galanin between postmenopausal women and young women may be related to body mass index rather than to differences in hormonal status and that the higher NPY levels in both lean and obese postmenopausal women than in young women indicate that factors other than body mass index may be involved.