Estrogen in skeletal muscle: metabolism, mechanisms, and exercise-induced changes

With the intensification of population aging, issues such as age-related skeletal muscle loss and metabolic disorders have garnered increasing attention. As the menopausal transition progresses, circulating estrogen levels decline, making locally synthesized estrogen in peripheral tissues particularly important. In addition to the ovaries, steroidogenic enzymes are present in skeletal muscle, enabling the local synthesis of myogenic estrogen. Myogenic estrogen can regulate muscle function and metabolism in an autocrine or paracrine manner within skeletal muscle tissue. Exercise, as a safe and effective non-pharmacological intervention, has been shown to regulate estrogen levels in skeletal muscle. Exercise may promote the synthesis of myogenic estrogen by enhancing the expression of estrogen precursor substances and steroidogenic enzymes in skeletal muscle, thereby improving skeletal muscle function and metabolism. This review summarizes the structure and function of estrogen receptors in skeletal muscle, the synthesis and metabolism of myogenic estrogen, the roles and mechanisms of estrogen in skeletal muscle, and the mechanisms underlying the influence of exercise on estrogen synthesis in skeletal muscle.