Comparison of lipid profiles and inflammation in pre- and post-menopausal women with cerebral infarction and the role of atorvastatin in such populations

BACKGROUND: The risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in women rapidly increase with age in post-menopausal women. We aimed to investigate the lipid profiles in peri-menopausal women with cerebral infarction and to explore the effects of atorvastatin intervention. METHODS: We collected women aged 40-60 with cerebral infarction between January 2013 and December 2016. Atorvastatin was applied for 6 months in all included patients. Blood lipid profiles, serum pro-inflammation cytokines, intracranial plaque and NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) scores were evaluated before and after atorvastatin treatment. RESULTS: Totally 210 patients were included. Before atorvastatin treatment, post-menopausal patients had significantly higher levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and a reduced level of high-density lipoprotein than those in pre-menopausal patients. Blood levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α were higher in post-menopausal patients, who had larger intracranial plaques than pre-menopausal patients. Consistently, post-menopausal patients had higher NIHSS scores than pre-menopausal ones. Atorvastatin reduced NIHSS scores and improved dyslipidemia in patients and eliminated the differences of these parameters between pre- and post-menopausal patients. CONCLUSIONS: Post-menopausal patients were severer than pre-menopausal patients in terms of dyslipidemia, systemic inflammation and NIHSS scores. Atorvastatin may be beneficial for women with cerebral infarction.