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Updated: Dec 1, 2025
A Method to Study the Impact of Chemically-induced Ovarian Failure on Exercise Capacity and Cardiac Adaptation in Mice
Published on: April 7, 2014
Menstrual cycle effects on cardiovascular drift and maximal oxygen uptake during exercise heat stress
Tori Stone1,2,3, Ryan L Earley4, Sarah G Burnash5
1Department of Kinesiology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA. tori.stone@yale.edu.
Aim:
Compared to other modulators of physiological strain associated with exercise heat stress, hyperthermia results in the greatest magnitude of cardiovascular (CV) drift and associated decrements in maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]).
Purpose:
To determine if elevated core temperature in the luteal phase (LP) of the menstrual cycle results in greater CV drift and reductions in [Formula: see text] versus the follicular phase (FP).
Methods:
Seven women performed 15- and 45-min cycling bouts on separate occasions (60% [Formula: see text], 35 °C) followed by a [Formula: see text] test during the FP and LP. CV drift was measured between 15 and 45 min during the 45-min bout, and the 15-min bout was for measuring [Formula: see text] over the same time interval that CV drift occurred.
Results:
Core temperature during LP was ~ 0.3 °C higher than FP (P < 0.05), but changes from rest during exercise were similar between phases (all P > 0.05). Heart rate increased significantly over time but was not different between phases (P = 0.78). Stroke volume decreased more over time during LP compared to FP (P = 0.02), but the values were similar at the end of exercise between phases (both time points P > 0.05). [Formula: see text] decrements for FP (13%) and LP (16%) were also comparable (P = 0.97).
Conclusions:
The LP-FP difference in core temperature in this study was not sufficient to amplify CV strain and decrements in [Formula: see text]. Greater differences in core temperature may be required to independently modulate CV drift and accompanying decrements in [Formula: see text] during prolonged exercise heat stress.
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