CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 374Exercise and Physiological ResponsesMuscle Physiology and DisordersEstrogen and related hormone effects

The Influence of Estrogen on Skeletal Muscle: Sex Matters

Enns, Deborah L., Tiidus, Peter M.·2010·Sports Medicine
DOI 10.2165/11319760-000000000-00000
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

As women enter menopause, the concentration of estrogen and other female hormones declines. This hormonal decrease has been associated with a number of negative outcomes, including a greater incidence of injury as well as a delay in recovery from these injuries. Over the past two decades, our understanding of the protective effects of estrogen against various types of injury and disease states has grown immensely. In skeletal muscle, studies with animals have demonstrated that sex and estrogen may potentially influence muscle contractile properties and attenuate indices of post-exercise muscle damage, including the release of creatine kinase into the bloodstream and activity of the intramuscular lysosomal acid hydrolase, beta-glucuronidase. Furthermore, numerous studies have revealed an estrogen-mediated attenuation of infiltration of inflammatory cells such as neutrophils and macrophages into the skeletal muscles of rats following exercise or injury. Estrogen has also been shown to play a significant role in stimulating muscle repair and regenerative processes, including the activation and proliferation of satellite cells. Although the mechanisms by which estrogen exerts its influence upon indices of skeletal muscle damage, inflammation and repair have not been fully elucidated, it is thought that estrogen may potentially exert its protective effects by: (i) acting as an antioxidant, thus limiting oxidative damage; (ii) acting as a membrane stabilizer by intercalating within membrane phospholipids; and (iii) binding to estrogen receptors, thus governing the regulation of a number of downstream genes and molecular targets. In contrast to animal studies, studies with humans have not as clearly delineated an effect of estrogen on muscle contractile function or on indices of post-exercise muscle damage and inflammation. These inconsistencies have been attributed to a number of factors, including age and fitness level of subjects, the type and intensity of exercise protocols, and a focus on sex differences that typically involve factors and hormones in addition to estrogen. In recent years, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or estrogen combined with exercise have been proposed as potentially therapeutic agents for postmenopausal women, as these agents may potentially limit muscle damage and inflammation and stimulate repair in this population. While the benefits and potential health risks of long-term HRT use have been widely debated, controlled studies using short-term HRT or other estrogen agonists may provide future new and valuable insights into understanding the effects of estrogen on skeletal muscle, and greatly benefit the aging female population. Recent studies with older females have begun to demonstrate their benefits.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.2165/11319760-000000000-00000

Cites

172 of 172 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Enns, D. L., & Tiidus, P. M.
Affiliations
Wilfrid Laurier University (CA)
Corresponding author
Tiidus, Peter M.
ORCID
Tiidus, Peter M.
Venue
Sports Medicine
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2010-01
Volume
40
Issue
1
Pages
41-58
ISSN
0112-1642 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2165/11319760-000000000-00000
OpenAlex
W1999417131
Cited by
374
References
171
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 11
FWCI
1.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Sports Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Estrogen and related hormone effects
Keywords
estrogen, skeletal muscle, menopause, creatine kinase, beta-glucuronidase, muscle inflammation, satellite cells, muscle repair, oxidative stress, estrogen receptor, hormone replacement therapy, sex differences, postmenopausal women, older women, physical activity
MeSH terms
Animals, Estrogens, Female, Humans, Male, Muscle Contraction, Sex Factors, Exercise, Estrogen Replacement Therapy, Postmenopause, Muscle, Skeletal

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review