Table 2. Hormones, markers of inflammation and endothelial function in serum of female athletes with menstrual disorders (MD), regular menstrual cycles (E), or hormonal contraceptive (HC) users. Data are means (± SD) or median and range.

Hormone

MD a
(n = 10)

E b
(n = 13)

HC c
(n = 16)

Normal Range

Estradiol (pmol·L-1)

378 (117)

330 (143)

323 (198)

110–1470

Progesterone (nmol·L-1)

3.56 (1.23) c

3.15 (.62) c

2.60 (1.03) a,b

< 3.2

LH (IU·L-1)

6.4 (1.5-17.1)

6.8 (4.0-14.1)

2.5 (1.1-17.1)

1.7–15

FSH (IU·L-1)

4.7 (2.7-6.1)

4.2 (2.7-6.4)

3.5 (1.6-15.0)

1.8–11.2

Leptin (ng·mL-1)

6.5 (1.7-16.1)

6.8 (2.1-22.8)

12.3 (4.3-27.9)

2.5–9.0

Cortisol (nmol·L-1)

1137 ± 448 c

1068 ± 379 c

1653 ± 276 a,b

170–860

PTH (ng·L-1)

47 (12)

42 (19)

43 (24)

10–65

Prolactin  (pmol·L-1)

503 (261-1043)

565 (274-1710)

636 (270-1913)

< 4000

TNF-a (pg·mL-1)

19.1 (17.9-33.2)c

12.4 (6.7-33.1) c

34.9 (18.6-43.1) a,b

<2

CRP (mg·L-1)

.50 (0-5.76) c

2.40 (0-13.41) c

4.42 (0-13.87) a,b

<10

IL-6 (pg·mL-1)

7.1 (2.9-12.4)

9.1 (2.2-36.8)

11.5 (3.5-88.7) 

<150

sVCAM-1 (ng·mL-1)

955 (572-1245)

1072 (753-1726)

970 (790-1194)

400-800
Superscripts denote significantly (p < 0.05) differences between the groups.