The effects of transdermal estradiol on the response to mental stress in postmenopausal women: a randomized trial

PURPOSE: Estrogens inhibit adrenomedullary catecholamine release and catecholamine-mediated responses to stress. We examined whether estrogen supplementation reduces the sympathoadrenal response to mental stress in postmenopausal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared the effects of 3-week treatment with transdermal 17-beta-estradiol and placebo in 10 postmenopausal women using a randomized, blinded, crossover design. We measured plasma catecholamine levels and the cardiovascular and metabolic responses to a 15-minute stress with mental arithmetic. Treatments were compared using repeated measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: During placebo treatment, mean (± SD) epinephrine levels reached a peak of 431 ± 135 pmol/liter after 15 minutes of stress; the epinephrine response was blunted during estradiol treatment, with a peak of 357 ± 77 pmol/liter ( P