Last Updated: 2002-09-25 15:28:44 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Dana Frisch

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who see the pounds creep on as they get older may be happy to know that the weight gain isn't entirely their fault. Maryland researchers report that during menopause, fat metabolism appears to change and women are more likely to store--and less likely to get rid of--fat.

In their study, Dr. Cynthia Ferrara, assistant professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, and colleagues extracted fat tissue from the abdomen and buttocks of 24 women of similar weight and body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of weight and height used to gauge obesity.

Twelve women were postmenopausal and 12 were in perimenopause, the several years before and the one-year following the final menstrual period. Women in perimenopause often have irregular menstrual cycles, decreased ovarian function, hormonal changes and fat redistribution.

The researchers found that an enzyme that breaks down fat into its separate components for uptake by fat cells--adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase (AT-LPL)--was more active in postmenopausal women compared with perimenopausal women. The study also showed that postmenopausal women had reduced lipolysis, the process by which stored fat is released from fat cells. In the buttocks, the amount of lipolysis was cut by 75% in postmenopausal women compared with perimenopausal women.

"The lower lipolysis and higher AT-LPL activity in postmenopausal women may predispose them to gain body fat after menopause," according to the report in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The accumulation of body weight and the changes in fat distribution after menopause increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, Ferrara told Reuters Health.

"Understanding the mechanisms behind the increases in body weight and body fat distribution are important to our understanding of cardiovascular risk in older women," Ferrara noted.

It is not clear why fat cell metabolism changes at that time, though a number of possible explanations exist. Hormonal changes during menopause, particularly lower levels of estrogen produced by the ovaries, and "factors secreted by the fat cells may also affect LPL activity, and the amount secreted may differ," Ferrara explained.

Despite these seemingly unavoidable changes, Ferrara recommends diet and regular exercise to try to prevent weight gain as women age.

"These lifestyle changes will help maintain body weight, maintain/reduce blood lipid levels, maintain/increase cardiovascular fitness, reduce blood pressure and improve glucose tolerance, all factors known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease," Ferrara said.

SOURCE: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 2002;87:4166-4170

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