Relationship of Estradiol and Progesterone with Partnership and Parity Among Bangladeshi and British Women of European Origin

Recent studies in social endocrinology have explored the effects of social relationships on female reproductive steroid hormones-estradiol and progesterone-investigating whether they are suppressed in partnered and parous women. Results have been mixed for these hormones although evidence is more consistent that partnered women and women with young children have lower levels of testosterone. These studies were sequential to earlier research on men, based on Wingfield's Challenge Hypothesis, which showed that men in committed relationships, or with young children, have lower levels of testosterone than unpartnered men or men with older or no children. The study described here explored associations between estradiol and progesterone with partnership and parity among women from two different ethnicities: South Asian and white British. We hypothesized that both steroid hormones would be lower among partnered and/or parous women with children ≤3 years old, regardless of ethnicity. In this study we analyzed data from 320 Bangladeshi and British women of European origin aged 18 to 50 who participated in two previous studies of reproductive ecology and health. Levels of estradiol and progesterone were assayed using saliva and/or serum samples and the body mass index calculated from anthropometric data. Questionnaires provided other covariates. Multiple linear regressions were used to analyze the data. The hypotheses were not supported. We argue here that, unlike links between testosterone and male social relationships, theoretical foundations for such relationships with female reproductive steroid hormones are lacking, especially given the primary role of these steroids in regulating female reproductive function. Further longitudinal studies are needed to explore the bases of independent relationships between social factors and female reproductive steroid hormones.

No impact of developmental conditions on serum estradiol levels among Bangladeshi women in the UK and Bangladesh

INTRODUCTION

While many aspects of female ovarian function respond to environmental stressors, estradiol (E2) appears less sensitive to stressors than progesterone, except under extreme ecological conditions. However, earlier studies relied on saliva samples, considered less sensitive than blood. Here, we investigated E2 variation among 177 Bangladeshi and UK white women, aged 35-59, using single serum samples. Bangladeshi women either grew up in Sylhet, Bangladesh (exposed to poor sanitation, limited health care, and higher pathogen loads but not poor energy availability), or in the UK.

METHODS

We collected samples on days 4-6 of the menstrual cycle in menstruating women and on any day for post-menopausal women. Participants included: (i) Bangladeshi sedentees (n = 36), (ii) Bangladeshis who migrated to the UK as adults (n = 52), (iii) Bangladeshis who migrated as children (n = 40), and (iv) UK white women matched for neighborhood residence to the migrants (n = 49). Serum was obtained by venipuncture and analyzed using electrochemiluminescence. We collected anthropometrics and supplementary sociodemographic and reproductive data through questionnaires. We analyzed the data using multivariate regression.

RESULTS

E2 levels did not differ between migrant groups after controlling for age, BMI, physical activity, psychosocial stress, parity, and time since last birth (parous women). Paralleling results from salivary E2, serum E2 did not differ among women who experienced varying developmental conditions.

CONCLUSION

Our results reinforce the hypothesis that E2 levels are stable under challenging environmental conditions. Interpopulation variation may only arise under chronic conditions of extreme nutritional scarcity, energy expenditure, and/or high disease burdens.

A multi-centre international study of salivary hormone oestradiol and progesterone measurements in ART monitoring

RESEARCH QUESTION

Ovarian stimulation during IVF cycles involves close monitoring of oestradiol, progesterone and ultrasound measurements of follicle growth. In contrast to blood draws, sampling saliva is less invasive. Here, a blind validation is presented of a novel saliva-based oestradiol and progesterone assay carried out in samples collected in independent IVF clinics.

DESIGN

Concurrent serum and saliva samples were collected from 324 patients at six large independent IVF laboratories. Saliva samples were frozen and run blinded. A further 18 patients had samples collected more frequently around the time of HCG trigger. Saliva samples were analysed using an immunoassay developed with Salimetrics LLC.

RESULTS

In total, 652 pairs of saliva and serum oestradiol were evaluated, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.68 to 0.91. In the European clinics, a further 237 of saliva and serum progesterone samples were evaluated; however, the correlations were generally poorer, ranging from -0.02 to 0.22. In the patients collected more frequently, five out of 18 patients (27.8%) showed an immediate decrease in oestradiol after trigger. When progesterone samples were assessed after trigger, eight out of 18 (44.4%) showed a continued rise.

CONCLUSIONS

Salivary oestradiol hormone testing correlates well to serum-based assessment, whereas progesterone values, around the time of trigger, are not consistent from patient to patient.

Effect of the menstrual cycle on inflammatory cytokines in the periodontium

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The effects of different levels of steroid hormones, as experienced during puberty, pregnancy and menopause, on the periodontium have been demonstrated, but changes in sex hormone levels during the menstrual cycle, and the influence of these changes on the periodontium, remain unresolved. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the menstrual cycle on the levels of interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in gingival crevicular fluid and on periodontal clinical parameters, including the gingival bleeding index (GBI) and the modified gingival index (MGI), in periodontally healthy women.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Twenty-seven periodontally healthy women with a regular menstrual cycle were included in the study. Clinical parameters, including the GBI, the MGI and the simplified oral health index, were recorded during menstruation, ovulation and premenstruation phases (e.g. on days 1-2, 12-14 and 22-24, respectively) of the menstrual cycle. Gingival crevicular fluid and unstimulated saliva were collected, at each study phase, for assessment of IL-1β, TNF-α, estrogen and progesterone.

RESULTS

Both the GBI and the MGI increased significantly during the menstrual cycle, and were significantly higher during ovulation than during menstruation or premenstruation (p < 0.001). No significant change in the simplified oral health index was observed during the menstrual cycle ( p = 0.18). The levels of IL-1β and TNF-α increased during the different phases of the menstrual cycle, but only the change in the TNF-α concentration was significant ( p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study indicated that changes occurring during the menstrual cycle influence the periodontium and induce inflammatory conditions.

Steroid concentrations in antepartum and postpartum saliva: normative values in women and correlations with serum

Background

Saliva has been advocated as an alternative to serum or plasma for steroid monitoring. Little normative information is available concerning expected concentrations of the major reproductive steroids in saliva during pregnancy and the extended postpartum.

Methods

Matched serum and saliva specimens controlled for time of day and collected less than 30 minutes apart were obtained in 28 women with normal singleton pregnancies between 32 and 38 weeks of gestation and in 43 women during the first six months postpartum. Concentrations of six steroids (estriol, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone) were quantified in saliva by enzyme immunoassay.

Results

For most of the steroids examined, concentrations in antepartum saliva showed linear increases near end of gestation, suggesting an increase in the bioavailable hormone component. Observed concentrations were in agreement with the limited data available from previous reports. Modal concentrations of the ovarian steroids were undetectable in postpartum saliva and, when detectable in individual women, approximated early follicular phase values. Only low to moderate correlations between the serum and salivary concentrations were found, suggesting that during the peripartum period saliva provides information that is not redundant to serum.

Conclusions

Low correlations in the late antepartum may be due to differential rates of change in the total and bioavailable fractions of the circulating steroid in the final weeks of the third trimester as a consequence of dynamic changes in carrier proteins such as corticosteroid binding globulin.