Reproductive history in relation to plasma hormone levels in healthy post-menopausal women.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to examine the relationship between reproductive history and measures of selected gonadotrophins and steroid hormones among post-menopausal women. Previous studies have suggested that there is a negative correlation between parity and post-menopausal serum estrogens, which may be a mechanism by which pregnancies protect women from the development of breast cancer.


METHODS
We analyzed women who experienced a natural menopause within the Healthy Women Study cohort both 1 and 8 years after menopause. Lifetime reproductive history was obtained and blood was assayed for estrone, estradiol, androstenedione, testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) at 1 year post-menopause and for many of these steroid hormones at 8 years post-menopause. Also at 8 years post-menopause, a hip bone mineral density measure was obtained.


RESULTS
Age at menopause related to a modest increase in estrone at 1 year but a decrease in estrone and estradiol at eight years. Adjustment for body mass index (BMI), oral contraceptive use, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and education had little impact on these findings. There were no other internally consistent relationships between reproductive variables and steroid hormones or hip-bone mineral density.


CONCLUSIONS
These observations do not support the hypothesis that parity acts to diminish endogenous levels of post-menopausal estrogens.
Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 130 DeSoto Street, 517 Parran Hall, 15261, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. repro@vns.cis.pitt.edu
R B
RB
Ness
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Buhari
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Kuller
D000328:Adult; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000097:blood; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D004970:Estrone / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D010298:Parity; D017698:Postmenopause; D017584:Reproductive History; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D004970:Estrone; D013739:Testosterone; D000735:Androstenedione; D004958:Estradiol; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone