# Anti-oxidative enzymes, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and adipokines in Nigerian women on oral and implant contraceptives

## TL;DR

The study compares the effects of oral and implant contraceptives on metabolic and oxidative stress markers in Nigerian women.

## Contribution

It identifies differences in lipid profiles, insulin resistance, and adipokine levels between contraceptive methods.

## Key findings

- Oral contraceptive users had higher BMI, cholesterol, and insulin levels compared to controls.
- Implant users showed altered lipid metabolism and increased insulin resistance compared to controls.
- Duration of implant use correlated with higher LDL cholesterol levels.

## Abstract

Increased use of oral contraceptives and implants has necessitated the need to examine biochemical changes associated with their use.

This study assessed insulin resistance, lipid profile, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, adiponectin and leptin levels in women using oral and implant contraceptives in Calabar.

Ninety women aged 18-45years were recruited for this case-control study. Thirty of them women were on oral contraceptives, 30 on implants and the remaining 30 were controls. Total cholesterol (TC), VLDL-cholesterol (VLDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, glucose, insulin, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, adiponectin and leptin were analyzed by standard methods. Body mass index (BMI), Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) were calculated. Data was analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance, Bonferrori Post Hoc test and Pearson's correlation.

Significance was set at <0.05.

The oral contraceptive users had significantly higher BMI (p=0.003), TC (p=0.004), HDL-C (p=0.000), Insulin (p=0.019), Leptin (p=0.000) and Adiponectin (p=0.049) than controls. Implant users had a significantly higher (p=0.000) BMI, TC, HDL-C LDL-C, Insulin, HOMA-IR, FPG (p=0.018) and Leptin (p=0.022) with significantly lower TG (p=0.003), VLDL-C (p=0.000) and AIP (p=0.003) compared to controls. There was a significant positive correlation between the duration of contraceptive use with LDL-C in implant users (r=0.366, p=0.046).

Oral contraceptive use may be associated with weight gain while implant use may lead to derangement in carbohydrate, lipid metabolism and weight gain. This suggests the need for appropriate client profiling before recommending a contraceptive method, especially for those with pre-existing conditions.