Is the use of combined oral contraceptive able to change the insulin sensitivity?

Introduction: Women using low-dose of combined oral contraceptive (COC) present fasting triglycerides, postprandial lipemia, and higher C-reactive protein. This condition seems to be related to the decrease in the action of the lipoprotein lipase enzyme due to decreased insulin sensitivity. Objective: To test whether there is a difference between the function of beta-pancreatic cells of women using or not COC and to verify the association between these indexes and the fasting lipid profile in this population. Methods: The sample was divided into two groups: COC group (COCG) composed of 22 women using low dose COC and without COC group (WCOCG). The correlation between the values of Homa-IR (HIR) and Homa-Beta (Hβ), which respectively evaluated insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell function- were verified with all variables of the lipid profile - triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). For the intergroup comparison of the parametric variables, we used the unpaired bidirectional Student t test and non-parametric variables the Mann-Whitney test. Results: Highest HIR (0.03%) and Hβ (˂ 0.01 #) were observed for COCG. There was a moderate and positive linear correlation between HIR and total cholesterol (r=0.34 and p=0.02) and Hβ with triglycerides (r=0.41 and p<0.01), TC (r=0.40 and p˂0.01) and LDL (r=0.30 and p=0.04).