Publication:

A study on the relation between sex steroids and divalent cations in women of menopausal and reproductive age group

Background Menopause is the time when permanent cessation of menstruation occurs following the loss of ovarian activity. Though there is a relation between the divalent cations and sex hormones, and the lack of sufficient literature on their relation with sex hormones, the present study was conducted to compare and correlate the relation between levels of sex hormones and divalent cations in normal healthy menopausal women and the different phases of menstrual cycle in healthy women of reproductive age group.

Methods The study was performed after institutional ethical clearance and informed consent from all the subjects. The study included three groups of 30 subjects each of reproductive age and postmenopausal women with less than 10 years of menopause and more than 10 years of menopause. Blood samples were obtained from the control group, one each in early follicular phase, ovulatory phase and during luteal phase for estimation of calcium, magnesium and the level of sex hormones and compared with that of postmenopausal group using commercially available kit. The values are expressed as mean ± S.D. The comparison between the different phases of menstrual cycle in reproductive age group with menopausal women was performed using student t test. Correlation between different parameters were done using Pearson correlation test. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results The correlation of progesterone with magnesium and calcium/magnesium ratio in women of reproductive age group was significant. The correlation of estrogen with calcium and magnesium in women more than 10 years after menopause was found to be significant.

Conclusions A low level of estrogen supplementation may be more acceptable, because of its negative correlation with serum magnesium, and thus helping to maintain an adequate protective level of Mg2+ circulating in the blood. Therefore, it is necessary for maintaining optimum Ca2+/Mg2+ ratio, to increase the efficacy of HRT and decrease the complications of high calcium intake in women after menopause.