| Estrogen exposure and its relationship with basic indices of vascular function were assessed in sedentary ovulatory (SedOv; n=9), and exercising ovulatory (ExOv/LPD; n=14), anovulatory (ExAnov; n=6), oligomenorrheic (ExOlig; n=5), and amenorrheic (ExAmen; n=11) young (18-35yrs) women. ExAmen had lower (p<0.05) estrogen exposure compared with SedOv, ExOv/LPD, and ExOlig, but was similar (p>0.05) compared with ExAnov. Lower limb resting blood flow (BFr), and resting vascular conductance (Gr), heart rate (HRr) and systolic blood pressure (SBPr) were lower (p<0.05), and vascular resistance (VRr) higher (p<0.05), in ExAmen compared with ovulatory groups. Estrogen exposure was positively associated with BFr (r=0.365;p=0.015), HRr (r=0.377;p=0.014) and Gr (r=0.309;p=0.041), and negatively associated with VRr (r=-0.383;p=0.010), suggesting that estrogen contributes, in part, to basal tone and autonomic regulation. Peak-ischemic responses were similar between groups (p>0.05) and were not related (p>0.05) to estrogen exposure, except for HR (p=0.013; r=0.396,p=0.011; respectively), suggesting estrogen-independent factors likely effect peak-ischemic blood flow responses. |
