Exercised-induced increase in lipid peroxidation parameters in amenorrheic female athletes

Objective: To determine plasma lipid peroxidation parameters in eumenorrheic and amenorrheic athletes and to evaluate differences in their response to exercise-induced oxidative stress, In female athletes, intense physical exercise has been shown to be associated with an increased occurrence of menstrual dysfunction with lower levels of E-2. Recently, a protective role has been demonstrated for estrogens as free radical scavengers, Design: Comparison of eumenorrheic and amenorrheic athletes before and after an acute bout of exercise, Setting: Academic Research Environment, Patient(s): Seven eumenorrheic (normally menstruating) and seven amenorrheic (<3 menses/year) female athletes aged 18 to 35 years participating in regular training, Main Outcome Measure(s): Plasma and low-density lipoprotein oxidation parameters, plasma E-2 and vitamin E levels, and creatine kinase activity, Result(s): Both the amenorrheic and eumenorrheic athletes demonstrated a significant decrease in the lag time of conjugated diene formation after exercise (P < 0.01), with greater magnitude of change occurring in the amenorrheic athletes (P < 0.05), In addition, postexercise samples from amenorrheic (but not eumenorrhic) athletes showed a significant (P < 0.01) increase in oxysterol formation as compared to baseline values. Amenorrheic athletes also demonstrated a significantly higher baseline creatine kinase activity and a nonsignificant (P = 0.04) trend of an increase in creatine kinase activity after exercise. Conclusion(s): The results of this study shows that amenorrheic female athletes demonstrate an increased potential for lipid peroxidation after exercise. This could be related to lower plasma E-2 levels in this group, considering the strong free radical scavenging ability of estrogens identified recently. (C) 1998 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.