BACKGROUND: Menstruation is a phenomenon unique to females and nearly universal experience in women's lives and is poorly understood. It is characterized by co-ordinate sequence of hormonal changes but the changes that occur in the distribution of hematological parameters, biochemical parameters have not been clearly established. AIMS: To compare Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), Serum tota...

We tested the physiological reliability of plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma concentrations of arginine vasopressin (P[AVP]), aldosterone (P[ALD]), and atrial natriuretic peptide (P[ANP]) in the early follicular phase and midluteal phases over the course of two menstrual cycles (n = 9 women, ages 25 +/- 1 yr). The reliability (Cronbach's alpha >/=0.80) of these hormones within a given phas...

The effects of menstrual cycle phase and carbohydrate (CHO) supplementation were investigated during prolonged exercise. Nine healthy, moderately trained women cycled at 70% peak O(2) consumption until exhaustion. Two trials were completed during the follicular (Fol) and luteal (Lut) phases of the menstrual cycle. Subjects consumed 0.6 g CHO. kg body wt(-1). h(-1) (5 ml/kg of a 6% CHO solution ...

Alcohol ingestion and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) have been associated with increased breast cancer risk, the latter primarily in premenopausal women. We investigated whether alcohol ingestion altered IGF-I or its major binding protein (BP), IGFBP-3, in a controlled feeding study in premenopausal women. We also determined whether IGF-I or IGFBP-3 was affected by menstrual cycle phase. ...

CONTEXT The aim of this study was to assess the plasma leptin, adiponectin, resistin, visfatin/NAMPT, omentin-1, vaspin, apelin, TNF-α, IL-6 and RBP4 levels in relation to hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle in young, healthy, normal-weight women. METHODS The study involved 52 young, healthy, normal-weight women. Anthropometric parameters, body composition and levels of plasma leptin,...

BACKGROUND In this study we extended previous work by examining whether disturbances in the circadian rhythms of cortisol during the menstrual cycle distinguish patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) from normal control (NC) subjects. In addition, we tested the differential response to the effects of early and late partial sleep deprivation on cortisol rhythms. METHODS In 15 PMD...

Sex hormones may contribute to inter- and intra-individual differences in pain by influencing emotional modulation of pain and nociception. To study this, a well-validated picture-viewing paradigm was used to assess emotional modulation of pain and the nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR; physiologic measure of nociception) during mid-follicular, ovulatory, and late-luteal phases of the menstrual c...

Women have decreased orthostatic tolerance compared with men, and anecdotal evidence suggests women are more susceptible to orthostatic intolerance in warm environments. Because estrogen and progesterone affect numerous physiological variables that may alter orthostatic tolerance, the purpose of our study was to compare orthostatic tolerance across the menstrual cycle phases in women during com...

Steroid hormone receptor co-factors are abundantly expressed in the uterus in order to modify steroid hormone receptor action, either leading to activation or repression of transcription in the endometrium. However, the role of co-factors in remodelling of the human endometrium has not been established. We therefore endeavoured to evaluate the presence of the co-activator SRC (steroid receptor ...