Effect of menstrual cycle phase on exercise performance of high-altitude native women at 3600 m
Fecha
2002Autor
Brutsaert, Tom D
Spielvogel, Hilde
Cáceres, Esperanza
Araoz, Mauricio
Chatterton, Robert T
Vitzthum, Virginia J
Metadatos
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Summary.
At sea level normally menstruating women show
increased ventilation (VE) and hemodynamic changes due
to increased progesterone (P) and estrogen (E2) levels
during the mid-luteal (L) compared to the mid-follicular
(F) phase of the ovarian cycle. Such changes may affect
maximal exercise performance. This repeated-measures,
randomized study, conducted at 3600 m, tests the
hypothesis that a P-mediated increase in VE increases
maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) during the L phase
relative to the F phase in Bolivian women, either born and
raised at high altitude (HA), or resident at HA since early
childhood. Subjects (N=30) enrolled in the study were
aged 27.7±0.7 years (mean ± S.E.M.) and non-pregnant,
non-lactating, relatively sedentary residents of La Paz,
Bolivia, who were not using hormonal contraceptives.
Mean salivary P levels at the time of the exercise tests
were 63.3 pgml–1 and 22.9 pgml–1 for the L and F phases,
respectively. Subset analyses of submaximal (N=23) and
maximal (N=13) exercise responses were conducted only
with women showing increased P levels from F to L and,
in the latter case, with those also achieving true VO2max.
Submaximal exercise VE and ventilatory equivalents were
higher in the L phase (P<0.001). P levels were significantly
correlated to the submaximal exercise VE (r=0.487,
P=0.006). Maximal work output (W) was higher
(approximately 5 %) during the L phase (P=0.044), but
.VO2 max (lmin–1) was unchanged (P=0.063). Post-hoc
analyses revealed no significant relationship between
changes in P levels and changes in VO2max from F to L
(P=0.072). In sum, the menstrual cycle phase has relatively
modest effects on ventilation, but no effect on VO2 max of
HA native women.