Trial reportJournal of endocrinological investigation2013
Oral contraception but not menstrual cycle phase is associated with increased free cortisol levels and low hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity.
Trial report in Journal of endocrinological investigation, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Salivary diagnostic markers in males and females during rest and exercise.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2017Trial
- Region-specific regulation of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor signaling in a mouse model of oral contraceptive exposure.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Metabolic state shapes cortisol reactivity to acute stress: A systematic review and meta-analysis of metabolic and hormonal modulators.Neurobiology of stress · 2025Article
- Steroid anabolic and catabolic hormones in highly and recreationally trained female athletes across the menstrual cycle.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Effects of Normobaric Hypoxia of Varying Severity on Metabolic and Hormonal Responses Following Resistance Exercise in Men and Women.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Beyond Birth Control: The Neuroscience of Hormonal Contraceptives.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Review
- Article
- Effect of the one-day fasting on cortisol and DHEA daily rhythm regarding sex, chronotype, and age among obese adults.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Article
- Examining the relation between oral contraceptive use and attentional engagement in everyday life.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2023Article
- The Specificities of Elite Female Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Approach.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Inflammation and Oral Contraceptive Use in Female Athletes Before the Rio Olympic Games.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Article
- Individual variation in the cortisol response to a simulated Olympic weightlifting competition is related to changes in future competitive performance.Biology of sport · 2019Article
- Oral Contraceptives and Cigarette Smoking: A Review of the Literature and Future Directions.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2019Review
- A Repeated Measures Pilot Comparison of Trajectories of Fluctuating Endogenous Hormones in Young Women with Traumatic Brain Injury, Healthy Controls.Behavioural neurology · 2019Article
- Immune Response in Women during Exercise in the Heat: A Spotlight on Oral Contraception.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2018Article
- Sex differences in the circadian profiles of melatonin and cortisol in plasma and urine matrices under constant routine conditions.Chronobiology international · 2016Article
- The Role of Isotretinoin Therapy for Cushing's Disease: Results of a Prospective Study.International journal of endocrinology · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn females, estrogen is a potential modulator of cortisol response to stressors. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of menstrual cycle phase, oral contraception (OC) use and exercise training on hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and reactivity after physical stress.
aimWe investigated the effects of the menstrual cycle and OC use on exhaustive exerciseinduced changes in free salivary cortisol concentrations and free urinary cortisol/cortisone excretion in healthy young women. MATERIALS AND SUBJECTS: Twenty-eight women were allocated to an untrained group (no.=16) or a trained group (no.=12), depending on their physical training background. The untrained group was composed of nine OC users (UNTOC+) and seven eumenorrheic women (UNT-OC-) tested in the follicular and luteal phases, while the trained group was entirely composed of OC+ subjects (T-OC+).
methodsThree laboratory sessions were conducted in a randomised order: a prolonged exercise test, a short-term exercise test, and a control session. For each session, urine and saliva specimens were collected at rest (09:00 h) and then, 30, 60 and 90 min later.
resultsEstradiol fluctuation during the menstrual cycle phase did not alter free cortisol baseline values and responses to exercise. OC use was associated with increased free resting salivary concentrations and urinary cortisol excretion with blunted salivary cortisol response to prolonged exercise stimulation. No training effect was noted.
conclusionsOC but not menstrual cycle phase is associated with increased free cortisol levels and low HPA axis reactivity.
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Registered trials
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