Hormone therapy attenuates exercise-induced skeletal muscle damage in postmenopausal women

Dieli-Conwright CM, Spektor TM, Rice JC, Schroeder ET. Hormone therapy attenuates exercise-induced skeletal muscle damage in postmenopausal women. J Appl Physiol 107: 853-858, 2009. First published July 2, 2009; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00404.2009.-Hormone therapy (HT) is a potential treatment to relieve symptoms of menopause and prevent the onset of disease such as osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. We evaluated changes in markers of exercise-induced skeletal muscle damage and inflammation [serum creatine kinase (CK), serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and skeletal muscle mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-8, IL-15, and TNF-alpha] in postmenopausal women after a high-intensity resistance exercise bout. Fourteen postmenopausal women were divided into two groups: women not using HT (control; n = 6, 59 +/- 4 yr, 63 +/- 17 kg) and women using traditional HT (HT; n = 8, 59 +/- 4 yr, 89 +/- 24 kg). Both groups performed 10 sets of 10 maximal eccentric repetitions of single-leg extension on the Cybex dynamometer at 60 degrees/s with 20-s rest periods between sets. Muscle biopsies of the vastus lateralis were obtained from the exercised leg at baseline and 4 h after the exercise bout. Gene expression was determined by RT-PCR for IL-6, IL-8, IL-15, and TNF-alpha. Blood draws were performed at baseline and 3 days after exercise to measure CK and LDH. Independent t-tests were performed to test group differences (control vs. HT). A probability level of P <= 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance. We observed significantly greater changes in mRNA expression of IL-6, IL-8, IL-15, and TNF-alpha (P <= 0.01) in the control group compared with the HT group after the exercise bout. CK and LDH levels were significantly greater after exercise (P <= 0.01) in the control group. Postmenopausal women not using HT experienced greater muscle damage after maximal eccentric exercise, indicating a possible protective effect of HT against exercise-induced skeletal muscle damage.