Serum Markers of Inflammation and Endothelial Function are Elevated by Hormonal Contraceptive Use but not by Exercise-Associated Menstrual Disorders in Physically Active Young Women

Table 3. Cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in serum of female athletes with menstrual disorders (MD), regular menstrual cycles (E), or hormonal contraceptive (HC) users. Data are means (± SD).

Hormone	MD ^a (n = 10)	E ^b (n = 13)	HC ^c (n = 16)	Desirable Range
TG (mmol·L^-1)	1.06 (.36)	1.03 (.23)	1.28 (.43)	<1.695
TC (mmol·L^-1)	3.83 (.47) ^c	3.94 (.67) ^c	4.74 (.96) ^a,b	<5.18
LDL-C (mmol·L^-1)	2.02 (.72) ^c	2.02 (.60)^c	2.61 (.76)^a,b	<2.59
HDL-C (mmol·L^-1)	1.33 (.31)	1.45 (.33)	1.53 (.26)	>1.036

Superscripts denote significantly (p < 0.05) differences between the groups.