title: Is there an association between athletic amenorrhea and endothelial cell dysfunction?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that young females with athletic amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea show signs of early cardiovascular disease manifested by decreased endothelium-dependent dilation of the brachial artery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten women with athletic amenorrhea (mean +/- SE, age 21.9 +/- 1.2 yr), 11 with oligomenorrhea (age 20.8 +/- 1.1 yr), and 11 age-matched controls (age 20.2 +/- 1.1 yr) were studied. Study subjects were amenorrheic an average of 2.3 (range 0.6-5) yr and oligomenorrheic an average of 6.2 yr. All ran a minimum of 25 miles.wk. They were nonpregnant and free of metabolic disease. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (endothelium-dependent) was measured with a noninvasive ultrasound technique in each group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Endothelium-dependent brachial artery dilation was reduced in the amenorrheic group (1.08 +/- 0.91%) compared with oligomenorrheic (6.44 +/- 1.3%; P< 0.05) and eumenorrheic (6.38 +/- 1.4%; P< 0.05) groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Athletic amenorrhea is associated with reduced endothelium-dependent dilation of the brachial artery. This may predispose to accelerated development of cardiovascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Sports Medicine Center, Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery/Cardiovascular Center, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA. azeni@mcw.edu.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zeni Hoch
authors.forename: Rania L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Dempsey
authors.forename: Guillermo F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Carrera
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Ellen H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Vanessa M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Barnabei
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Sandford
authors.forename: Tracey A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Gutterman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000568:Amenorrhea / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D004435:Eating; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006728:Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006940:Hyperemia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D005996:Nitroglycerin / Q000494:pharmacology; D009839:Oligomenorrhea / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D013177:Sports; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D006728:Hormones; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D005996:Nitroglycerin