Premenstrual syndrome is associated with blunted cortisol reactivity to the TSST

Figures & data

Table 1. The demographic variables, PMS scores and sex hormones levels of PMS and control women tested in the follicular phase and the late luteal phase (mean ± standard deviation).

	PMS in FP (n = 18)	PMS in LP (n = 18)	Non-PMS in FP (n = 18)	Non-PMS in LP (n = 18)
Age (years)	22.00 ± 2.38	21.39 ± 1.94	22.22 ± 2.58	21.83 ± 2.43
BMI (kg/m^2)	20.72 ± 2.19	20.44 ± 4.63	20.22 ± 2.56	19.83 ± 3.20
Menarche age (years)	12.50 ± 1.47	12.83 ± 1.20	12.67 ± 1.14	13.11 ± 1.32
Duration of menstrual flow (days)	5.06 ± 0.94	5.56 ± 0.78	5.39 ± 0.98	5.11 ± 1.02
Length of menstrual cycle (days)	29.22 ± 1.99	29.67 ± 2.33	29.17 ± 3.09	30.00 ± 2.09
PMS scores	8.06 ± 3.11	8.50 ± 4.00	5.00 ± 3.09	5.17 ± 2.41
Estradiol (pg/mL)^a	4.04 ± 1.62	3.87 ± 1.80	4.68 ± 2.30	4.57 ± 1.93
Progesterone (pg/mL)^b	57.56 ± 23.28	101.58 ± 62.93	74.07 ± 48.93	103.43 ± 96.80

FP, follicular phase; LP, late luteal phase; BMI, body mass index, which was calculated as the participant’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of her height in meters (kg/m²).

Menarche age refers to the age when menstruation first occurs in a woman’s life. Duration of menstrual flow in this study refers to the duration of the menstrual phase in a single menstrual cycle. Length of menstrual cycle here refers to the interval between two consecutive menstrual cycles.

^aThe reference range was 0.56–16.05 pg/mL for estradiol.

^bThe reference range was 6–332.6 pg/mL for progesterone.

Figure 1. Changes in salivary cortisol (A), heart rate (B) and subjective stress (C) after the TSST for PMS and control women in the follicular phase and the late luteal phase. Data represent mean ± SEM (baseline from 0 to 10 min, preparation from 10 to 20 min, TSST from 20 to 30 min, first recovery from 30 to 40 min, second recovery from 40 to 55 min, third recovery from 55 to 70 min and fourth recovery from 70 to 100 min).

Table 2. Salivary cortisol, heart rate and subjective stress levels throughout the TSST of PMS and control women tested in the follicular phase and the late luteal phase (mean ± standard deviation).

	PMS in FP (n = 18)	PMS in LP (n = 18)	Non-PMS in FP (n = 18)	Non-PMS in LP (n = 18)
Salivary cortisol (ng/ml)
T1	4.86 ± 1.27	3.99 ± 1.51	5.61 ± 2.41	4.61 ± 1.65
T2	5.19 ± 1.43	3.89 ± 1.42	5.35 ± 2.11	4.68 ± 1.74
T3	5.67 ± 1.78	4.23 ± 1.92	6.33 ± 3.40	5.64 ± 2.69
T4	5.94 ± 2.28	3.99 ± 1.60	7.13 ± 4.53	6.28 ± 3.40
T5	5.22 ± 1.54	3.92 ± 1.41	6.50 ± 3.22	5.94 ± 2.76
T6	5.31 ± 2.06	3.65 ± 1.41	5.84 ± 2.19	5.36 ± 1.86
T7	4.48 ± 1.80	3.77 ± 1.36	4.97 ± 1.92	4.84 ± 1.77
Heart rate
T1	77.21 ± 7.80	81.48 ± 10.32	75.61 ± 11.00	82.74 ± 8.98
T2	89.69 ± 12.20	87.41 ± 9.09	84.03 ± 13.72	88.30 ± 11.23
T3	95.12 ± 13.13	93.99 ± 11.34	94.08 ± 13.61	97.39 ± 10.56
T4	79.06 ± 8.12	82.27 ± 9.35	77.94 ± 9.98	82.59 ± 8.95
T5	78.71 ± 9.41	80.65 ± 8.68	78.13 ± 10.14	81.10 ± 8.59
T6	77.09 ± 8.24	80.69 ± 10.90	75.84 ± 10.67	79.67 ± 7.72
T7	75.79 ± 7.34	78.43 ± 8.89	73.53 ± 10.99	77.55 ± 8.12
Subjective stress
T1	3.78 ± 0.43	3.39 ± 0.78	3.50 ± 0.71	3.56 ± 0.86
T2	2.72 ± 0.67	2.78 ± 0.88	2.78 ± 0.73	2.89 ± 1.02
T3	2.61 ± 0.98	2.44 ± 0.98	2.56 ± 0.70	2.56 ± 0.86
T4	3.89 ± 0.68	3.78 ± 0.65	3.50 ± 0.71	3.72 ± 0.67
T5	3.89 ± 0.47	3.78 ± 0.55	3.50 ± 0.51	3.67 ± 0.49
T6	3.94 ± 0.64	3.83 ± 0.62	3.94 ± 0.64	3.72 ± 0.89
T7	3.83 ± 0.71	3.83 ± 0.71	3.83 ± 0.86	3.94 ± 0.64

T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6 and T7 refer to baseline (from 0 to 10 min), preparation (from 10 to 20 min), TSST (from 20 to 30 min), first recovery (from 30 to 40 min), second recovery (from 40 to 55 min), third recovery (from 55 to 70 min) and fourth recovery (from 70 to 100 min) throughout the TSST, respectively. Salivary cortisol levels are presented as raw data.