Walking training and cortisol to DHEA-S ratio in postmenopause: An intervention study

ABSTRACT

The literature indicates that the plasma cortisol-to-dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) ratio is a marker of health status after menopause, when a decline in both estrogen and DHEA-S and an increase in cortisol occur. An increase in the cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio has been positively correlated with metabolic syndrome, all-cause mortality, cancer, and other diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a walking program on the plasma cortisol-to-DHEA-S ratio in postmenopausal women. Fifty-one postmenopausal women participated in a 13-week supervised walking program, in the metropolitan area of Pescara (Italy), from June to September 2013. Participants were evaluated in April–May and September–October of the same year. The linear mixed model showed that the variation of the log₁₀Cortisol-to-log₁₀DHEA-S ratio was associated with the volume of exercise (p = .03). Participants having lower adherence to the walking program did not have a significantly modified log₁₀Cortisol or log₁₀DHEA-S, while those having the highest adherence had a significant reduction in log₁₀Cortisol (p = .016) and a nearly significant increase in log₁₀DHEA-S (p = .084). Walking training appeared to reduce the plasma log₁₀Cortisol-to-log₁₀DHEA-S ratio, although a minimum level of training was necessary to achieve this significant reduction.

KEYWORDS:

• Cortisol
• DHEA-S
• postmenopause
• walking exercise

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Christopher Berrie for linguistic revision of the manuscript. This research was conducted on behalf of the Working Group on Gender Cardiovascular Disease of the Italian Society of Cardiology.