Lab study, 1992
Does hormone withdrawal change how brain blood vessels respond to serotonin?
In lab tests with rabbit blood vessel tissue, hormone withdrawal made the vessels more sensitive to serotonin. Both sudden and long-term hormone removal had this effect.
What they did
In vitro study using three groups of rabbits. One group had ovaries surgically removed (simulating menopause). Another group was treated to have high hormone levels (mimicking the luteal phase). A third group had sudden hormone depletion (simulating the premenstrual state). Researchers tested how blood vessel rings from the brain reacted to serotonin.
What they found
Both sudden withdrawal and long-term removal of estrogen and progesterone significantly increased the sensitivity of blood vessels to serotonin. The maximum strength of vessel contraction to serotonin was the same across all groups. Vessels responded the same way to another chemical called norepinephrine regardless of hormone status. When very high concentrations of estrogen and progesterone were applied directly to vessel segments, they caused the vessels to relax, but lower concentrations did not.
What it means for you
This was a test-tube study with animal tissue, not human tissue or living subjects. The findings suggest hormone withdrawal might change blood vessel reactivity to serotonin, but testing in humans is needed to understand clinical significance for PMS symptoms.
3
study groups
About the study
- Original title
- Estrogen and progesterone withdrawal increases cerebral vasoreactivity to serotonin in rabbit basilar artery
- Authors
- Futo J, Shay J, Block S et al.
- Journal
- Life sciences
- Year
- 1992
- Study design
- Lab study
- What was tested
- Hormone manipulation through surgical removal and chemical depletion of estrogen and progesterone
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(92)90459-3
Topics
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