HT treatment with estrogens alone or in combination with progestogens was associated with a small to moderate improvement in sexual function , particularly in pain , when used in women with menopausal symptoms or in early postmenopause ( within five years of amenorrhoea ) , but not in unselected postmenopausal women .
The current evidence does not suggest an important effect of tibolone or of SERMs alone or combined with estrogens on sexual function .
BACKGROUND The perimenopausal and postmenopausal periods are associated with many symptoms , including sexual complaints .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effect of hormone therapy ( HT ) on  sexual function in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women .
Effects of raloxifene and hormone replacement therapy on serum Th2 and Th3 type cytokine concentrations in healthy postmenopausal women: a randomised controlled trial
Background Since sex hormones are reported to have important roles in the regulation of immune function , this study was design ed to investigate the effects hormone replacement therapy ( HRT ) and raloxifene ( RAL ) on serum cytokine concentrations in healthy postmenopausal women . Methods Fifty-three healthy postmenopausal women were r and omly assigned and treated by RAL ( Group I , [ RAL 60 mg daily and continuously ] , n = 16 ) , HRT ( Group II , [ 2 mg estradiol valerat + 2 mg dienogest , continuously ] n = 18 ) or placebo ( Group III , n = 19 ) . Two fasting morning blood sample s were obtained from each participant before and 3 months after the treatments . Serum concentration of interleukin (IL)-4 ( as a Th2 cytokine ) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)1 ( as a Th3 cytokine ) , were measured by using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits . Kruskal – Wallis analysis of variance , Mann – Whitney U , and Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Tests were used as necessary . Results At the beginning of the study , the chronological ages , menopausal ages , years of amenorrhea , weights , body mass indexes , and blood pressures were not significantly different between groups ( P < 0.05 ) . RAL treatment caused a significant decrease on serum IL-4 concentration ( P < 0.001 ) . Although HRT caused a 14 % decrease in serum IL-4 concentration , this decrease was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05 ) . Serum TGF-β1 concentrations were significantly decreased by HRT when compared to basal value ( P < 0.001 ) , and to control ( P < 0.05 ) . RAL treatment has no significant effect on serum TGF-β1 concentration ( P > 0.05 ) . Conclusion It seems that RAL treatment might cause a decrease in serum IL-4 concentration while valerate plus dienogest treatment as HRT seems to cause a Th3 tendency in healthy postmenopausal women
HT treatment with estrogens alone or in combination with progestogens was associated with a small to moderate improvement in sexual function , particularly in pain , when used in women with menopausal symptoms or in early postmenopause ( within five years of amenorrhoea ) , but not in unselected postmenopausal women .
The current evidence does not suggest an important effect of tibolone or of SERMs alone or combined with estrogens on sexual function .
BACKGROUND The perimenopausal and postmenopausal periods are associated with many symptoms , including sexual complaints .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effect of hormone therapy ( HT ) on  sexual function in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women .