Cohort study, 2001
Do women with PMDD handle stress hormones differently than women without it?
Yes. In this small study, women with PMDD showed different patterns of the hormone allopregnanolone and cortisol around stress compared to women without PMDD, hinting at a biological difference in how their bodies respond to stress.
What they did
Researchers compared 24 women with PMDD to 12 healthy women. They measured the hormones allopregnanolone and cortisol in blood during the follicular and luteal phases of the cycle, both at rest and after a mental stress task. Because levels were low in the follicular phase, the main analysis focused on the luteal phase.
What they found
During the luteal phase, women with PMDD had higher allopregnanolone and lower cortisol at both rest and during stress. 83% of healthy women showed the expected rise in allopregnanolone with stress, compared to only 42% of women with PMDD. Women with PMDD also had a higher allopregnanolone-to-progesterone ratio. Among women with PMDD, those with more anxiety and irritability had lower luteal allopregnanolone than less symptomatic women with PMDD; this link was not seen in healthy women.
What it means for you
This suggests something is different in how the body processes a key hormone pathway in PMDD, which may relate to mood symptoms. It is a small, lab-based hormone study, so it cannot show cause and effect or be generalized widely.
83%
healthy women showing expected stress hormone rise
42%
PMDD women showing expected stress hormone rise
n=24 vs 12
PMDD group vs control group size
About the study
- Original title
- Allopregnanolone levels and reactivity to mental stress in premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Authors
- Girdler SS, Straneva PA, Light KC et al.
- Journal
- Biological psychiatry
- Year
- 2001
- Study design
- Cohort study
- What was tested
- No treatment tested; hormone levels were measured before and after a mental stress test
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3223(00)01044-1
Topics
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