Hormone replacement therapy decreases insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in Japanese postmenopausal women with impaired and normal glucose tolerance.

Objects: To investigate the effect of combined estrogen and progesterone therapy on insulin resistance (IR) and carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in postmenopausal women (PMW) with impaired (IGT) and normal glucose tolerance (NGT).

Methods: Sixteen Japanese PMW with IGT and 33 with NGT received daily oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT; 0.625 mg of conjugated equine estrogen plus 2.