Abstract 446: The Impact of the Menstrual Cycle on the Cardiovascular System

Abstract

The stage of the menstrual cycle is an exquisite regulation of female hormone and cardiovascular adaptation to prepare for pregnancy. However, there are still many unclear areas in the study of the influence of the menstrual cycle on cardiovascular function. Since the arterial pulse wave provides insightful information about the cardiovascular system, this study aimed to study cardiovascular adaptation in three phases of the menstrual cycle through non-invasive blood pressure and radial pulse wave measurements. In this observational study, we recruited 113 healthy women with regular menstrual cycles(25±35 days). All participants underwent blood pressure and radial pulse measurements in three stages of the menstrual cycle, including menses period, proliferative phase, and secretory phase. The Fourier series method was used to calculate the first ten harmonic amplitudes of the radial pulse wave(C1~C10). The results showed no significant systolic and diastolic changes in the three phases of menstruation. However, compared to the other two phases, women in menses period had lower C2 and higher C4, C6 and C7. (Figure 1) C4 and C7 are two indices that are inversely related to arterial stiffness and peripheral arterial impedance. Thus, during the menstrual cycle, female hormones may be involved in the regulation of vascular elasticity and peripheral vasodilatation, which in turn changed the radial pulse spectrum. In summary, the menstrual cycle has an impact on the radial pulse spectrum and could alter arterial stiffness to accommodate the physiological needs of the pre-pregnancy period.