Effects of oral contraception with ethinylestradiol and drospirenone on oxidative stress in women 18-35 years old.

Abstract Background Oral contraceptives (OCs) with estrogens and progestins may affect oxidative stress (OS) status. Study design A group of 32 women using oral contraceptives (OCU) containing 0.03 mg ethinylestradiol and 3 mg drospirenone have been compared to a matched control group of 30 noncontraception users (NCU). Blood levels of antioxidants, trace elements and markers of lipid peroxidation were assessed by biochemical methods. A microarray analysis of whole blood mRNA levels of 200 genes involved in OS-dependant pathway was also performed. Results Levels of zinc, vitamin E and antibodies to oxidized low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) were not significantly different between the two groups. On the other hand, significant increases in the mean levels of lipid peroxides (+176%, p 2 fold change=+ 0.45, p 2 fold change=���0.24, p Conclusions The recently introduced combination of ethinylestradiol and drospirenone induced the heightening of lipid peroxidation correlated with high levels of copper, a situation that could be associated with increased cardiovascular risk.