Effects of estrogen replacement therapy on dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and cortisol responses to exercise in postmenopausal women

Objective: To determine the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) drosterone (DHEA), DHEA sulfate (DHEAS), and cortisol (F) responses to treadmill exercise. Design: Controlled clinical study. Setting: Female volunteers in an academic research environment. Patient(s): Sixteen healthy, postmenopausal women (7 were receiving HRT, 9 were not). Intervention(s): Blood samples were taken, from an intravenous cathether before, during, and after 30 minutes of treadmill exercise following an overnight fast. A second session was conducted one month later for the same subjects using the same blood sampling protocol without exercise. Main Outcome Measure(s): Serum DHEA, DHEAS, and F concentrations. Result(s): The HRT and untreated DHEA area under the curve (AUC) for the exercise trials was significantly greater than that for the control trials. The untreated, but not the HRT, DHEAS AUC for the exercise trials was significantly greater than that for the control trials. The HRT and untreated F AUC for the exercise trials was significantly greater than that for the control trials. The AUC for the HRT exercise trials was significantly higher than the untreated exercise trials for DHEA and F, but not DHEAS. Conclusion(s): Data suggest that treadmill exercise elevates DHEA, DHEAS, and F levels in postmenopausal women and that HRT enhances the DHEA and F responses.