Menstrual symptoms include some rhythmical changes and stress perception but women differ in duration and severity of these symptoms. It is not known whether these differences are associated with cortisol awakening response (CAR). The aim of the current study was to follow young women daily for the CAR and menstrual parameters throughout the whole menstrual cycle. Healthy and regularly cycling young women (n = 16, 17 to 31-year-old) participated in the current study. The daily records of severity of problems (DRSP) was filled in daily by the participants. CAR was also assessed daily form the salivary samples collected at a 0-, 15-, 30- and 60-min post-awakening. In terms of daily awakening cortisol profiles, women had either 2–20 (n = 3), or 20–200 (n = 8) or 200–2000 (n = 5) ng/ml cortisol according to the median levels throughout their cycle. CAR was weakly and negatively correlated with DRSP scores but strongly and positively with oestradiol (R² = 0.300; p = 0.000) and progesterone (R² = 0.490; p = 0.000) concentrations. Individuals with higher oestradiol and progesterone concentrations did not have high DRSP scores. In conclusion, CAR had a very high between-subject difference but had a low within-subject difference throughout the days of menstrual cycle, suggesting that CAR is a relatively stable personal trait. Moreover, the interplay between cortisol, progesterone and oestradiol appears to be important for the severity of menstrual symptoms.

中文翻译：

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年轻女性每日皮质醇觉醒反应和月经症状

月经症状包括一些节律性变化和压力感知，但女性在这些症状的持续时间和严重程度上有所不同。目前尚不清楚这些差异是否与皮质醇觉醒反应 (CAR) 相关。本研究的目的是在整个月经周期中每天跟踪年轻女性的 CAR 和月经参数。健康且经常骑自行车的年轻女性（n  = 16、17 至 31 岁）参与了当前的研究。参与者每天填写问题严重程度每日记录（DRSP）。每天还从觉醒后 0、15、30 和 60 分钟收集的唾液样本中评估 CAR。就每日觉醒皮质醇曲线而言，女性有 2-20 ( n  = 3) 或 20-200 ( n = 8) 或 200–2000 ( n  = 5) ng/ml 皮质醇，根据整个周期的中位数水平。CAR与DRSP评分呈弱负相关，但与雌二醇（R ²  = 0.300；p  = 0.000）和孕酮（R ²  = 0.490；p ）呈强正相关 = 0.000) 浓度。雌二醇和孕酮浓度较高的个体的 DRSP 评分不高。总之，CAR在整个月经周期中具有非常高的受试者间差异，但在受试者内差异很小，这表明CAR是一种相对稳定的个人特征。此外，皮质醇、孕酮和雌二醇之间的相互作用似乎对月经症状的严重程度很重要。