Morning and evening concentrations of salivary aldosterone and cortisol throughout the menstrual cycle in healthy women

D. Jezova*^a (Prof), N. Hlavacova^a (Dr), L. Izakova^b (Dr)

^a Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, SLOVAKIA ; ^b Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and University Hospital Bratislava, Bratislava, SLOVAKIA

* daniela.jezova@savba.sk

Introduction: Despite intensive research, there is still a lack of consistent evidence on dysregulation of steroid stress hormones cortisol and aldosterone in premenstrual syndrome (PMS). We aimed to test the hypothesis that salivary aldosterone concentrations are higher in women with premenstrual symptoms compared to asymptomatic women, particularly during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Material and methods: A total of 99 female subjects participated in a prospective non-interventional clinical study. Saliva samples were obtained in the follicular (8^th day), early luteal (20^th day), and late luteal phase (26^th day) of the menstrual cycle in the morning as well as in the evening. Results: We confirmed the hypothesis that salivary aldosterone concentrations are higher in women with premenstrual symptoms during the early luteal phase compared to women without PMS. This difference was recorded in the evening. Early luteal phase aldosterone concentrations positively correlated with premenstrual symptoms. The women with PMS exhibited a flatter morning to evening aldosterone slope. Salivary cortisol concentrations at both time intervals studied were unchanged throughout the menstrual cycle in both groups of women. Discussion: Evening salivary aldosterone but not cortisol concentrations are increased in women with premenstrual symptoms during the early luteal phase compared to asymptomatic women. Thus, cortisol does not appear to be involved in the mechanisms contributing to the course of PMS. A rise in evening aldosterone concentration in early luteal phase precedes the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.

The study was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (grant number APVV-18-0283) and by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic (grant number VEGA 2/0022/19).

The author has declared no conflict of interest.