Effect of oral and injectable contraceptives on low density and high density lipoproteins.

Low density lipoproteins (LDL) LDL-cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol were measured in 50 Pakistani women taking oral contraceptives 40 taking injectable contraceptives and 20 age-matched controls. The subjects were further divided into those taking contraceptives for 2-6 months and 6-12 months and those taking Ovral or Norinyl. Women using orals had significantly higher LDL 487 vs 440 mg/dl (p<.05); LDL cholesterol 171 vs 156 (p<.02) and lower HDL cholesterol 55.4 vs 66.2 (p<.01) than controls. Those receiving injectables had values tending in this direction but not significantly different. Similarly when subdivided the results tended to be higher for LDL and lower for HDL for Ovral compared to Norinyl at 6 months or less and for longer-term users but not significantly so. This is the first report of serum lipoproteins for Pakistani oral contraceptive users.