[Nutritional status in women and estrogen production in surgical menopause]

The objective of this study was to examine how nutritional status, in women with bilateral ovariectomy and after preservation of ovaries, influences estrogen production. After bilateral ovariectomy statistically significant low values of urinary estrogens were recorded (21.76 nmol) in regard to ovarian preservation (87.80 nmol). Urinary estrogen values correlated with obesity in women with bilateral ovariectomy: in undernourished they were 10.50 nmol, in normally nourished 21.05 nmol, and in obese women 25.05 nmol. These differences are statistically significant. This can be explained by a higher conversion of androstendione to estrone, in the massive tissue, which is the main source of estrogen in postmenopause. This correlation does not exist in women with preserved ovaries, because in that case they are the basic source of estrogen.