Background:

endocrine changes in midlife women produce an increase in central obesity and oxidative stress, thus it is possible that obese postmenopausal women exhibit a higher oxidative stress than premenopausal women.

Objective:

to evaluate the relationship between central obesity and oxidative stress in premenopausal compared with postmenopausal women using different indices.

Methods:

this is a cross-sectional study that included 237 pre- and 255 post-menopausal women (40-60 years old). As oxidative stress markers we measured plasma malondialdehyde and serum uric acid levels, erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and total plasma antioxidant status. We also measured height, weight, and waist and hip circumferences, and we calculated body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR).

Results:

we found over 30 % of women within the obesity range, whereas 50 % were placed in the overweight category in both groups. Plasma malondialdehyde and serum uric acid levels were higher in women with overweight or obesity than in women with normal weight regardless of menopausal status. We found a positive correlation between WHtR and malondialdehyde level (r = 0.298, p < 0.0001) and serum uric acid level (r = 0.263, p < 0.0001), and a negative correlation with erythrocyte GPx activity (r = -0.148, p < 0.01). If we use a WHtR > 0.6, malondialdehyde and uric acid levels increase regardless of menopausal status. The other indices measured did not show any relationship.

Conclusion:

our findings suggest that there is an association between central obesity, as measured with WHtR, and increased oxidative stress regardless of menopausal status.

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