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Below are some abstracts about the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) that have been presented at several national and international conventions and meetings. Click on the links to view the full abstract.

• The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) hormone trials did not confirm data from observational studies showing that menopausal hormone therapy reduced the risk of coronary heart disease. Two variables that differed between WHI and observational studies were the chronological age and proximity to menopause at which women initiated therapy. KEEPS compared baseline characteristics of KEEPS participants to those in the WHI.
  Baseline Characteristics of Women Enrolled in the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS)

• The cardiac effects of estrogen may depend on menopausal status. Declining estrogen levels lead to menopausal symptoms that can be ameliorated by exogenous therapy. However, it is unknown whether the symptoms of estrogen deficiency are associated with atherosclerosis in recently menopausal women.
  Atherosclerosis and Menopausal Symptoms: Baseline Characteristics of Recently Menopausal Women Screened for the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study

• The timing of initiation of menopausal hormone therapy may be critical to its effects upon atherosclerosis and vascular disease. Common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), a validated measure of atherosclerosis, is the primary endpoint. There is only limited information on links to subclinical atherosclerosis in this population. We correlated CIMT with a variety of conventional risk markers in 691 women screened to date for the KEEPS.
  Correlates of Cartoid Artery Intima-Media Thickness in Recently Menopausal Women Screened for the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study

• The lower rate of coronary heart disease (CHD) events in women vs. men reverses after menopause, but the extent to which conventional risk factors predict clinically silent CHD in perimenopausal women is unknown. We compared historical and biochemical predictors of CHD with CAC in recently menopausal 42-58 year old women screened for KEEPS.
  Relationship of Coronary Calcification to Conventional and Metabolic Risk Factors In Recently Menopausal Women

• Circulating microparticles are membrane fragments shed from activated cells which are characterized by surface markers consistent with their cells of origin. Alterations within the microparticle pool may indicate early pre-clinical vascular disease processes. Our study was designed to test the relationship between the phenotype of circulating microparticle and plaque formation quantified by coronary calcification scans in early menopausal women.
  Phenotype of Blood Borne Microparticles: Marker of Premature Atherosclerosis in Recently Menopausal Women

• Estrogens are thought to enhance neurological function and exert neuroprotective effects. Our objective in KEEPS was to quantify the rates of brain volume and ventricular volume change in newly menopausal women in the KEEPS trial.
  Brain Volume Changes in Recently Menopausal Women in a Hormone Replacement Trial

• The objective of the KEEPS Cognitive and Affective Study (KEEPS C/A) is to evaluate differential efficacy of oral conjugated equine estrogen (CEE or Premarin®) and transdermal 17 B-estradiol (tE2) with 12 days/month progesterone (Prometrium®) on mood and cognition in healthy non-hysterectomized, women who are within 6 months - 3 years of menopause.
  Baseline Cognitive and Demographic Characteristics of Women Enrolled in the KEEPS Cognitive and Affective Study

• Atherogenic processes increase in women after menopause, when the risk of cardiovascular adverse events approaches that observed in age-matched men. Experiments were designed to assess the sex distribution of inflammatorychemokines/cytokines, which may be released from platelets in the serum of middle-aged women and men in whom the extent of atherosclerotic coronary disease was defined by coronary arterial calcification (CAC).
  Pilot Study of Sex Differences in Chemokine/Cytokine Markers of Atherosclerosis in Humans

• Although exogenous estrogenic therapies increase the risk of thrombosis, the effects of estrogen on formed elements of blood are uncertain. This article examines the genomic and nongenomic actions of estrogen on platelet phenotype that may contribute to increased thrombotic risk.
  Estrogen, Inflammation, and Platelet Phenotype