{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.04520654715510522, 'fraction_numerical': 0.021823850350740453, 'mean_word_length': 5.388059701492537, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Differential effects of oral and transdermal postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapies on C-reactive protein.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the main independent predictors of cardiovascular events. Oral post-menopausal estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) increases CRP levels, but the effect of transdermal ERT is not well documented. CRP, interleukine-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) levels were evaluated in a randomised study of 196 healthy postmenopausal women, who were allocated to receive continuous oral estradiol-1beta, (n=63) or transdermal estradiol-1beta, (n=68) both combined with micronised progesterone, or place-bo (n=65). Oral estrogen increased CRP levels compared with both placebo (p=0.010) and transdermal estrogen (p=0.004) at 6 months. There was no significant effect of transdermal estrogen on CRP levels compared with placebo (p=0.997). No significant difference was found in the median changes for IL-6 and TNF-alpha between the three treatment groups. In conclusion, transdermal estrogen has no significant effect on CRP levels at 6 months, but CRP concentrations increased significantly with oral estrogen although no changes in cytokine levels were detected. The clinical relevance of these effects remains to be determined.