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Reviews in Endocrine & Metabolic... Sep 2002
Review
Topics: Endometrium; Female; Humans; Menstrual Cycle
PubMed: 12215712
DOI: 10.1023/a:1020027124001 -
Minerva Pediatrica Jun 1998
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Menstrual Cycle; Menstruation
PubMed: 9859648
DOI: No ID Found -
Experimental Physiology Oct 2018What is the topic of this review? We review methodological considerations for the inclusion of women in sex and menstrual cycle phase comparison studies. What advances... (Review)
Review
NEW FINDINGS
What is the topic of this review? We review methodological considerations for the inclusion of women in sex and menstrual cycle phase comparison studies. What advances does it highlight? Improving the methodological design for studies exploring sex differences, menstrual cycle phase differences and/or endogenous versus exogenous female sex hormones will help to close the gap in our understanding of the effects of endogenous and exogenous hormones on exercise science and sports medicine outcomes.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, the increase in scientific literature exploring sex differences has been beneficial to both clinicians and allied health science professionals, although female athletes are still significantly under-represented in sport and exercise science research. Women have faced exclusion throughout history though the complexities of sociocultural marginalization and biomedical disinterest in women's health. These complexities have contributed to challenges of studying women and examining sex differences. One underlying complexity to methodological design may be hormonal perturbations of the menstrual cycle. The biphasic responses of oestrogen and progesterone across the menstrual cycle significantly influence physiological responses, which contribute to exercise capacity and adaptation in women. Moreover, oral contraceptives add complexity through the introduction of varying concentrations of circulating exogenous oestrogen and progesterone, which may moderate physiological adaptations to exercise in a different manner to endogenous ovarian hormones. Thus, applied sport and exercise science research focusing on women remains limited, in part, by poor methodological design that does not define reproductive status. By highlighting specific differences between phases with regard to hormone perturbations and the systems that are affected, methodological inconsistencies can be reduced, thereby improving scientific design that will enable focused research on female athletes in sports science and evaluation of sex differences in responses to exercise. The aims of this review are to highlight the differences between endogenous and exogenous hormone profiles across a standard 28-32 day menstrual cycle, with the goal to improve methodological design for studies exploring sex differences, menstrual cycle phase differences and/or endogenous versus exogenous female sex hormones.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Athletes; Contraceptives, Oral; Estrogens; Exercise; Female; Humans; Menstrual Cycle; Progesterone; Sex Characteristics; Sports
PubMed: 30051938
DOI: 10.1113/EP086797 -
Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent... Dec 2014
Topics: Female; Humans; Menstrual Cycle; Menstruation; Puberty
PubMed: 25438705
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpag.2014.10.004 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2020Hormonal transitions across the menstrual cycle may modulate human reward processing and reinforcement learning, but previous results were contradictory. Studies...
Hormonal transitions across the menstrual cycle may modulate human reward processing and reinforcement learning, but previous results were contradictory. Studies assessed relatively small samples ( < 30) and exclusively used within-subject designs to compare women in hormonally distinct menstrual cycle phases. This increased the risk of sporadic findings and results may have been disproportionally affected by expectancy effects. Also, replication studies are widely missing, which currently precludes any reliable inferences. The present study was intended as a conceptual replication of a previous study [(1), Neuropsychologia 84; = 15]. There, we had observed a reduction in avoidance learning capacity when women were in the high estradiol state of the late follicular phase as compared to the mid luteal phase with enhanced progesterone influence. These results conformed to the idea that estradiol and progesterone may antagonistically modulate dopaminergic transmission as a dopamine agonist and antagonist, respectively. Heightened progesterone in the luteal phase thereby supported the ability to learn from the negative outcomes of one's actions, while the follicular rise in estradiol interfered with this capacity. Here, we re-examined the above described within-subject difference between the follicular and the luteal phase in a between-subjects design. Seventy-five women were tested once with a probabilistic feedback learning task, while being either in the follicular (36 women) or luteal phase (39 women), and were compared for phase-related differences in behavior. Secondly, we combined the new data with data from three previous studies from our laboratory that used the same task and menstrual cycle phases. This meta-analysis included only data from the first test day, free of any biasing expectancy effects. Both analyses demonstrated the consistency of the decline in avoidance learning in the follicular relative to the luteal phase. We also showed that this decline reliably occurred in all of the included samples. Altogether, these results provide evidence for the consistency of a behavioral difference and its apparent association with a transient change in hormonal state that occurs in the natural menstrual cycle. Our findings may also open new avenues for the development of reliable between-subjects test protocols in menstrual cycle research.
Topics: Adult; Avoidance Learning; Female; Follicular Phase; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Luteal Phase; Menstrual Cycle; Reward
PubMed: 32390943
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2020.00231 -
Annals of Medicine Jun 1997Stress is a common cause of hypothalamic amenorrhoea. In our laboratory, we have studied the effects of an inflammatory-like stress on gonadotropin secretion and on the... (Review)
Review
Stress is a common cause of hypothalamic amenorrhoea. In our laboratory, we have studied the effects of an inflammatory-like stress on gonadotropin secretion and on the menstrual cycle in a nonhuman primate model. In this short review, we summarize some of our findings regarding the mechanisms whereby stress induces disturbances of reproductive function. Our data indicate that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, through the release of corticotropin-releasing hormone and vasopressin, plays a mediatory role. One type of action is exerted through a central process resulting in the inhibition of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone pulse generator. The other type is mediated by a peripheral pathway stimulatory to gonadotropin secretion. Activation of one or the other pathway is determined by the ovarian endocrine milieu. Both actions presumably result in deleterious effects on the menstrual cycle.
Topics: Animals; Cytokines; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Gonadotropins; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Inflammation; Menstrual Cycle; Pituitary-Adrenal System; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 9240627
DOI: 10.3109/07853899708999339 -
Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology... May 2024Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases. Previous studies have shown differences in glucose metabolism between males and females. Moreover,... (Review)
Review
Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases. Previous studies have shown differences in glucose metabolism between males and females. Moreover, difficulties in medication adherence have been reported in females with type 2 diabetes. These observations are believed to be caused by fluctuations in sex hormone concentrations during the menstrual cycle. Furthermore, gut microbiota is linked to female host metabolism and sex hormone production. Understanding the interactions between fluctuating hormone concentrations during the menstrual cycle, gut microbiota, and glucose metabolism in humans is significant because of the increasing prevalence of diabetes and the consequent need to expand preventive efforts. A literature search was performed to determine and summarize the existing evidence, deduce future research needs to maintain female health, and investigate the relationship between the physiological menstrual cycle and glucose metabolism. Studies from 1967 to 2020 have already examined the relationship between variations during the menstrual cycle and glucose metabolism in healthy female subjects using an oral-glucose tolerance test or intravenous glucose tolerance test. However, the overall number of studies is rather small and the results are contradictory, as some studies detected differences in glucose concentrations depending on the different cycle phases, whereas others did not. Some studies reported lower glucose levels in the follicular phase than in the luteal phase, whereas another study detected the opposite. Data on gut microbiota in relation to the menstrual cycle are limited. Conflicting results exist when examining the effect of hormonal contraceptives on the gut microbiota and changes in the course of the menstrual cycle. The results indicate that the menstrual cycle, especially fluctuating sex hormones, might impact the gut microbiota composition.The menstrual cycle may affect the gut microbiota composition and glucose metabolism. These results indicate that glucose tolerance may be the greatest in the follicular phase; however, further well-conducted studies are needed to support this assumption.
Topics: Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Female; Menstrual Cycle; Gonadal Steroid Hormones; Glucose; Blood Glucose
PubMed: 38382644
DOI: 10.1055/a-2273-5602 -
Somatosensory & Motor Research Dec 2021Monthly hormonal fluctuation in women causes changes in peripheral systems and central nervous system structure and functions. In this study, we investigated the effects...
PURPOSE
Monthly hormonal fluctuation in women causes changes in peripheral systems and central nervous system structure and functions. In this study, we investigated the effects of menstrual cycle periods in women on attention during multitasking. Single and dual task conditions were tested in different menstrual cycle periods.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of forty women with regular menstrual cycles participated in this study. They were not any type of medication or hormonal treatment. Fine motor skills and Go/No-go tasks were performed on the 10th day of the late follicular phase, and then the tests were repeated on the 20th day of the late luteal phase. Fine motor tasks were performed by Annett's peg-moving test. Auditory stimuli were used in Go/No-go task. In dual tasks, both tasks were performed simultaneously.
RESULTS
There was no difference between follicular and luteal phases in single fine motor and Go/No-go task. In dual task condition Go/No-go task % error rate decreased in the luteal phase. Similarly, Go/No-go task reaction time decreased in the luteal phase. Non-dominant hand performance was increased in the luteal phase during the dual-task condition compared to the follicular phase.
CONCLUSIONS
When these results are evaluated together, declining error rates and reaction times indicates women successfully multitask in the luteal phase in dual tasks condition. This suggests that divided attention in women leads to better performance in the luteal phase than in the follicular phase.
Topics: Attention; Female; Follicular Phase; Humans; Luteal Phase; Menstrual Cycle; Task Performance and Analysis
PubMed: 34463190
DOI: 10.1080/08990220.2021.1968370 -
Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) Jun 1994Chronic exercise is now known to alter the menstrual cycle. Yet, we do not yet know the true incidence of menstrual cycle alterations in athletes, because good normative... (Review)
Review
Chronic exercise is now known to alter the menstrual cycle. Yet, we do not yet know the true incidence of menstrual cycle alterations in athletes, because good normative data do not exist and the metabolic cost of training has not been considered in many studies. Secondary amenorrhoea is not easily induced by exercise training alone but seems to require additional metabolic stressors. Induction of secondary amenorrhoea in prospective exercise studies has not occurred, although the onset of short luteal or inadequate luteal phase cycles may occur in women even when running distances are not extensive. Such menstrual cycles may cause infertility, but this is only a temporary phenomenon since pregnancy, if desired, will usually occur upon cessation of training. Exercise-related changes in the menstrual cycle can be viewed as a functionally adaptive rather than a maladaptive dysfunction. A strong case can be made that the changes in the menstrual cycle as a result of exercise are an energy conserving strategy to protect more important biological processes. This hypothesis is consistent with the theory of metabolic arrest that has been identified in lower organisms and hibernating mammals.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Amenorrhea; Basal Metabolism; Exercise; Female; Humans; Luteal Phase; Menstrual Cycle; Sports; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 8091047
DOI: 10.2165/00007256-199417060-00004 -
Current Opinion in Obstetrics &... Aug 2006Increasingly, gynaecologists are becoming aware of the impact of psychosocial factors on women's health generally, and on the menstrual cycle in particular. This review... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Increasingly, gynaecologists are becoming aware of the impact of psychosocial factors on women's health generally, and on the menstrual cycle in particular. This review highlights developments in this field in the last triennium.
RECENT FINDINGS
Stress impairs the ovarian cycle through activation of the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis. The effect of psychological stress on the menstrual cycle is mediated by metabolic factors. Stress-induced impairment of ovarian function may not necessarily manifest as menstrual irregularity, and the effects of stress may persist beyond the cycle in which the stress episode occurred. Response to stress may be determined not so much by the nature of the stress as by the intrinsic neuronal attributes of the individual.
SUMMARY
Interventions to address underlying stress should be part of the management regime for women with menstrual cycle abnormalities.
Topics: Amenorrhea; Animals; Cognition; Female; Hormones; Humans; Hypothalamic Diseases; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Menstrual Cycle; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 16794428
DOI: 10.1097/01.gco.0000233942.67049.ad