The Menopause Transition: Estrogen Variability, Stress Reactivity and Mood

Summary

Women in the menopause transition ('perimenopause') are exposed to extreme hormone variability, tend to experience a unique set of severe stressors (e.g., divorce, death of loved ones), and are also at substantially elevated risk to suffer from mood and anxiety disorders. The purpose of this research is to understand the mechanisms by which variability in estradiol (E2) is associated with the symptoms of anxiety and anhedonia (loss of interest and pleasure - a common symptom of depression). By stabilizing E2 variability with a hormonal manipulation, this research will determine the degree to which the E2 variability (or E2 levels) plays a causal role in perimenopausal anxiety and anhedonia symptoms and whether it does so by affecting biological responses to stress.

Timeline

Start

2017-01-24

Primary completion

2020-05-10

Completion

2020-05-10

Publications

• Lozza-Fiacco S, Gordon JL, Andersen EH, Kozik RG, Neely O, Schiller C, Munoz M, Rubinow DR, Girdler SS. Baseline anxiety-sensitivity to estradiol fluctuations predicts anxiety symptom response to transdermal estradiol treatment in perimenopausal women - A randomized clinical trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2022 Sep;143:105851. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105851. Epub 2022 Jul 2.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.