Oestrogens as antioxidant cardioprotectants.

Introduction T h e potential importance of oestrogens as antioxidant cardioprotectants is currently attracting considerable attention. Oestrogen is recognized to have a protective effect against coronary heart disease and its antioxidant action could contribute to the cardiovascular benefits observed on oestrogen administration in postmenopausal women [ 1,2]. This antioxidant-mediated cardioprotective action is likely to be independent of the favourable influence of oestrogen on risk factors such as the plasma lipid profile [l-31. Furthermore oestrogen improves lipid metabolism in the postprandial state: it makes this state less atherogenic by improving the clearance of chylomicron remnants and by attenuating the postprandial decrease in levels of beneficial highdensity lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol [4]. Other beneficial effects of oestrogen include the lower-