Acute Effects of Alcohol on Female Sex Hormones

Abstract

The acute effect of alcohol on plasma concentrations of female sex hormones was studied in nine healthy women aged 20–32 years during the midluteal phase of menstrual cycle. The experimental subjects received alcohol (1.2 g/kg of body weight) during the first 3 hr of the experiment (from 18.00 to 21.00 hr) and the plasma concentrations of folliclestimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, Prolactin, estradiol, estrone, progesterone, testosterone, and growth hormone were monitored for 20 hr after the start of the experiment. Every subject also participated in an identical control experiment without alcohol at the same phase of the next or previous cycle. Blood alcohol concentration reached its maximum 1.19 ± 0.02 g/liter (mean ± sem) 4 hr after the start of drinking. We could not demonstrate any alcohol‐induced decrease in plasma concentrations of estradiol, estrone, progesterone, and testosterone. In contrast, the relative values for plasma concentrations of estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone as calculated as per cent of the starting hormone levels tended to be even higher after alcohol administration than during the control session. During the first 4 hr of the oxperiment, plasma concentrations of gonadotropins seemed to decrease more rapidly after ethanol ingestion than during the control session, possibly due to negative feedback regulation of pituitary gonadotropin secretion by the relative high level of plasma estradiol, or due to a direct effect of ethanol administration. With ascending blood ethanol concentration, the values for plasma prolactin were decreased. The peak concentration of plasma growth hormone seen at 4 hr during the control session was totally abolished by ethanol ingestion. In conclusion, our results suggest that the acute ingestion of moderate doses of alcohol has only small effects on female gonadal function during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.