Plasma levels of kisspeptins in postmenopausal Chinese women do not show substantial elevation.
Peng. Jing J; Xu. Hong H; Yang. Bei B; Hu. Jia J; Zhang. Bao-Ping BP; Zou. Lin L; Kuang. Hai-Bin HB
Key Findings
- Plasma kisspeptin levels were similar in postmenopausal and young women (no significant difference).
- Kisspeptin levels did not correlate with the high FSH, LH, or estradiol changes seen after menopause.
- The authors suggest kisspeptin works mainly in the brain during menopause, not in the bloodstream, so it isn’t a practical clinical marker.
Practical Outcomes
- For biohackers, measuring kisspeptin in blood isn’t a helpful way to monitor menopause or guide interventions. Stick with established markers like FSH, LH, and estradiol for assessing hormonal status.
Summary
The study found that blood levels of the peptide kisspeptin are not meaningfully higher in postmenopausal Chinese women compared to younger women, and they don’t track with the hormone changes that happen after menopause. This means kisspeptin isn’t a useful blood test for spotting menopause or guiding hormone‑related tweaks.
Abstract
The menopause, defined as the permanent cessation of menstruation resulting from ovarian failure, is characterized by elevated levels of serum gonadotropins. Recent studies have demonstrated that the gonadotropin hypersecretion in postmenopausal women is secondary to increase of KiSS-1 mRNA from the hypothalamus neurons, which encoded kisspeptin peptides. The present study was designed to determine whether plasma kisspeptins levels are altered in postmenopausal women. Blood samples were taken from 145 postmenopausal women, 35 young women and 30 pregnant women control in the first trimester. The plasma concentration of kisspeptins, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol (E₂) was measured using immunoassay kits. Results indicated that plasma kisspeptins levels in postmenopausal women had higher than those in young women (5.25±0.36; 4.48±0.34 pmol/L), but no significant difference was found between the two groups (p=0.179). Plasma FSH and LH levels were significantly higher in postmenopausal women (124.67±12.78, 57.14±3.57 mIu/mL) than those in young women (9.23±2.78, 7.56±2.71 mIu/mL, p<0.001). However, Plasma kisspeptins levels were not significantly correlated to FSH and LH in postmenopausal women (r=-0.23, 0.324; p=0.927, 0.176, respectively), and also there was no any correlation between plasma kisspeptins and E₂ in postmenopausal women (r=-0.065; p=0.792). Collectively, there was no significant difference in plasma kisspeptins levels between postmenopausal and young women. Our result suggested that kisspeptins' role during menopause might mainly act in central rather than peripheral system and it could not be currently used as a clinical marker for menopause.
Study Information
pubmed
2010
2010-09-15T00:00:00.000Z
10.1016/j.peptides.2010.09.001
5
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