Endocrine Abstracts

Our understanding of endocrine adaptation to exercise is underpinned by studies which demonstrated a causative link between low energy availability, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis suppression. These and myriad other effects have been observed in elite athletes, termed Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), whereby negative hormonal and metabolic ramifications of exercise can be mitigated by increasing th...

Background: Urinary concentrations of the major progesterone metabolite pregnanediol glucuronide (P3G) are used clinically and in research to monitor ovulation. This ELISA is laborious and costly. If it could be replaced by the automated sensitive chemiluminescence assays routinely used for serum this would be of great value.Objective: We aimed to determine the validity of urine progesterone as measured by two widely used automated assays in comparison t...

Background: Urinary concentrations of the major progesterone metabolite pregnanediol glucuronide (P3G) are used clinically and in research to monitor ovulation. This ELISA is laborious and costly. If it could be replaced by the automated sensitive chemiluminescence assays routinely used for serum this would be of great value.Objective: We aimed to determine the validity of urine progesterone as measured by two widely used automated assays in comparison t...

Higher short-term exercise-associated reproductive, psychological and bone health-related outcomes have been reported in women than men, although the reasons for this are poorly understood. The first, all-female transantarctic expedition provided a unique opportunity to perform an observational study examining concurrent effects of extreme exercise on pertinent hormonal axes to reproductive dysfunction and associated pathology. Body composition was measured by dual-energy xray...

Background: Low energy availability (LEA) in female athletes can result in HPG axis suppression. Basic military training (BMT) is physically arduous and associated with amenorrhoea and low-trauma fractures. We hypothesised that women undergoing BMT would demonstrate evidence of LEA and suppressed HPG function.Design: Prospective study of 61 women undertaking 11-month BMT. Subjects acted as their own controls at baseline (all measures). Body composition m...