the effects of aging and estrogen on the pituitary

Conditions: Healthy

Summary: the purpose of this study is to study the effects of aging and estrogen on the brain. specifically, this study will examine how the hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland to secrete reproductive hormones and how that changes with aging.

although it is clear that loss of ovarian function plays a major role in the menopause in women, there is evidence from animal studies that primary age-related hypothalamic and pituitary changes may also contribute to reproductive aging. complete cessation of ovarian function results in the loss of negative feedback of ovarian steroids and inhibin on the hypothalamic and pituitary components of the reproductive axis. an increase in serum levels of luteinizing hormone (lh) and follicle-stimulating hormone (fsh) occurs in postmenopausal women with removal of negative ovarian feedback. however, levels of lh and fsh after menopause decline steadily as a function of age in most though not all studies. the current study is designed to determine: 1) whether negative feedback on lh and fsh occurs at the pituitary; and 2) whether there is an effect of aging on estrogen negative feedback at the pituitary. younger and older postmenopausal women underwent a baseline study and a second identical study after a month of low dose estrogen replacement. the study protocol consisted of the following: 1) administration of a gnrh antagonist (nal-glu at 150 mg/kg that blocks endogenous gnrh so that the dose and interval of pituitary exposure to gnrh are precisely controlled; 2) beginning 8 hours following gnrh antagonist administration (at a time when lh had reached its nadir following gnrh receptor blockade), administration of 4 graded doses of gnrh (25, 75, 250 and 750 ng/kg every 2 hours with 2 hours of blood draws following each dose). blood was sampled every 30 min for 4 hours before antagonist administration, every 30 min for the following 7 hours and then every 10 min until the completion of the study.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * 45-55 or 70-80 years old * history of natural menopause defined by the absence of menses for at least 12 months (or history of surgical menopause defined as bilateral oophorectomy) and a fsh level \>26 iu/l * on no hormonal medication or herbal supplements and/or over the counter menopause therapy for a minimum of 2 months prior to study * normal thyroid stimulating hormone, prolactin, factor v leiden, and complete blood count - normal blood urea nitrogen and creatinine (\< 2 times the upper limit of normal) * basal metabolic index ≤ 30 * non-smokers or smoke less than 10 cigarettes/day exclusion criteria: * absolute contraindications to the use of physiologic replacement doses of estrogen, including a negative screening mammogram within the past 24 months * history of coronary artery disease * on medications thought to act centrally on the gnrh pulse generator * past history of hypersensitivity or allergy to narcotics, vancomycin, muscle relaxants, aspirin, and/or anaphylactic reaction(s) to other drugs * prior history of breast cancer and/or blood clots

Keywords: gonadotropin-releasing hormone estrogens postmenopausal women pituitary hormones