Effects of tibolone on body composition in postmenopausal women: a 1-year follow up study

• Published in: Maturitas 2005-08, Vol.51 (4), p.363-369
• Main Authors: Boyanov, Mihail A., Shinkov, Alexander D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon; Bioelectrical impedance; Biological and medical sciences; Body composition; Body Composition - drug effects; Body Mass Index; Body Water; Body Weight; Bones, joints and connective tissue. Antiinflammatory agents; Case-Control Studies; Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; Electric Impedance; Estrogen Receptor Modulators - administration & dosage; Estrogen Receptor Modulators - pharmacology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Hormonal therapy; Hormone Replacement Therapy - methods; Hormones. Endocrine system; Humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Norpregnenes - administration & dosage; Norpregnenes - pharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Postmenopausal women; Postmenopause - drug effects; Tibolone
• ISSN: 0378-5122; 1873-4111
• DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2004.09.003

Objective: We investigated the effects of 1-year tibolone treatment on body weight, body composition and indices of android obesity in postmenopausal women. Methods: Forty-four postmenopausal women participated in this open-label controlled study; mean age was 51.8 ± 2.21 years and all women were menopausal for 3.8 ± 1.40 years. Twenty-two of them started taking 2.5 mg tibolone (TIB) daily for 1 year, whereas the remaining 22 served as age-matched controls. All subjects underwent a structured interview, physical examination, body composition measurements performed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) — Hologic QDR 4500 A, as well as bioelectrical body impedance analysis (BI) — Tanita TBF-215, Japan. Results: The TIB group did not significantly increase their weight (+0.4 kg), while the non-treated controls increased their mean weight by 1.4 kg ( p = 0.046). In the TIB group, DXA showed a non-significant body fat decrease by a mean of 0.5 kg and a non-significant lean mass increase by 0.8 kg, while in the control group, fat mass increased by 1.7 kg ( p = 0.032) and lean mass did not change. BI revealed that the TIB group had lost some fat (≈0.6 kg, n.s.) and put some free-fat mass (≈1.0 kg, p = 0.048) without changes in total body water. The control group put on some fat (≈1.1 kg, p = 0.042) and lost some body water (≈0.4 kg, n.s.). Conclusion: Results from both methods of measuring body composition show a similar trend: a decrease in fat mass and an increase in lean mass in TIB treated subjects. From the body composition perspective, tibolone may be regarded as a preferential alternative to conventional hormonal therapy (HT) in postmenopausal women.