836 JOURNAL OF WOMEN’S HEALTH Volume 15, Number 7, 2006 © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Obesity Distribution and Reproductive Hormone Levels in Women: A Report from the NHLBI-Sponsored WISE Study MARIAN B. OLSON, M.S., 1 LESLEE J. SHAW, Ph.D., 2 ELOISE E. KAIZAR, M.S., 1 SHERYL F. KELSEY, Ph.D., 1 VERA BITTNER, M.D., M.S.P.H., 3 STEVEN E. REIS, M.D., 4 KAREN SMITH, M.D., 5 GLENN D. BRAUNSTEIN, M.D., 2 SARAH L. BERGA, M.D., 6 B. DELIA JOHNSON, Ph.D., 1 and C. NOEL BAIREY MERZ, M.D., 2 for the WISE STUDY GROUP ABSTRACT Purpose: Relationships between body weight and disease are not straightforward. Central obe- sity appears to be a relatively greater cardiovascular risk factor than generalized obesity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and the association of obesity distribution with blood estrogen levels (estradiol, bioavailable estra- diol, and estrone). Methods: The study cohort consisted of 207 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Wo- men’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) undergoing angiography for evaluation of sus- pected ischemia. Results: Both BMI and waist circumference were positively associated with all three blood estrogen levels (p  0.01), with the highest estrogen levels found in the obese women with large waists (p  0.01). Results from regression analyses confirmed significant associations of BMI and waist circumference with the estrogen levels. Conclusions: These results demonstrate differing relationships between blood estrogen lev- els and obesity distribution in a cohort of postmenopausal women with chest pain undergo- ing coronary angiography. The differing levels by general and central obesity may help ex- plain in part observed epidemiological relationships between obesity and disease. 1 Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania. 2 Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California. 3 Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama. 4 Cardiovascular Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 5 Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. 6 Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. This work was supported by contracts from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes, N01-HV-68161, N01- HV-68162, N01-HV-68163, and N01-HV-68164, NIH grants U01-HL64829, U01-HL64914, and U01-HL64924, a GCRC grant MO1-RR00425 from the National Center for Research Resources, and grants from the Gustavus and Louis Pfeif- fer Research Foundation, Denville, New Jersey, The Women’s Guild of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, and The Ladies Hospital Aid Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.