Effects of menstrual cycle, oral contraception, and training on exercise-induced changes in circulating DHEA-sulphate and testosterone in young women

Abstract

The objective of this study was to ascertain the effects of menstrual cycle, oral contraception, and training status on the exercise-induced changes in circulating DHEA-sulphate and testosterone in young women. Twenty-eight healthy women were assigned to an untrained group (n = 16) or a trained group (n = 12) depending on their training background. The untrained group was composed of nine oral contraceptive users (OC+) and seven eumenorrheic women (OC-). The trained group was composed of OC+ subjects only. All the OC+ subjects were taking the same low-dose oral contraception. Three laboratory sessions were organised in a randomised order: a prolonged exercise test until exhaustion, a short-term exhaustive exercise test, and a control session. Blood specimens were collected before, during and after the exercise tests and at the same time of the day during the control session. Basal circulating testosterone was significantly lower in trained as compared to untrained subjects. In all subjects, the prolonged exhaustive exercise induced a significant increase in circulating DHEA-s and testosterone. The short-term exercise induced a significant increase in circulating DHEA-s in untrained eumenorrheic and in trained OC users only. Menstrual phases in OC- did not influence the responses. It was found that exhaustive physical exercise induced an increase in circulating DHEA-s and testosterone in young women. Oral contraception may limit short-term exercise-induced changes.

Menstrual cycle phase effects free testosterone responses to prolonged aerobic exercise

“…The tT results confirmed and agree with the results of previous studies (3,8). That is, there was no major impact on the tT responses as a result of menstrual phase, only that of exercise.…”

“…As previous research has shown, tT exhibits similar increases to a prolonged bout of aerobic exercise regardless of phase (3,8). However, this study shows a more robust increase in the amplitude of fT responses (absolute and relative) during the H-EP luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.…”

The Effects of Combined Exercises Intensity (Aerobics-Resistance) on Plasma Cortisol and Testosterone Levels in Active Males

“…19,20,39 The type of protocol used in this research can be stated because of inconsistent results, in addition to the synthesis of neurotransmitters' testosterone production (ARs) regarding the power of the synthesis of contractile proteins. 14,22,23 Increased testosterone in response to resistance training appears to be related to the level of increase in the number of androgen receptors (ARs) in human cells.…”

“…21 It seems that testosterone and cortisol respond to higher intensity and longer duration of activity. 22,23 High-intensity training protocols involving large muscles acutely increase testosterone level, 24 and also when the exercise intensity decreases from 70% to 40%, hormonal responses decrease in both sexes. 25 Testosterone secretion of glucocorticoids depends on especially cortisol synthesis.…”

Acute and Chronic Testosterone Responses to Physical Exercise and Training

“…The response of testosterone levels to ST may expose the skeletal musculature to an elevated peripheral hormonal concentration, which may improve the interaction between the hormone and its cellular receptors (Hoffman et al, 2003, Willoughby & Taylor, 2004. Regarding aerobic training, even though the importance of the anabolic hormone response remains unclear, it seems that testosterone is more responsive to higher intensity exercises (Enea et al, 2009) and a longer duration of exercises (Harris et al, 1989;Trembley et al, 2005).…”