Menopause Clinical Trials

This is a proof-of-concept phase 2 clinical trial to investigate the effect of the phytoestrogenic supplement PhytoSERM on vasomotor symptoms and other symptoms associated with the menopausal transition, and on blood-based biomarkers in peri- and postmenopausal women. After the screening period, participants will be randomized to PhytoSERM 50 mg pills (administered orally, once per day) or matching placebo, 1:1 allocation, for a period of 12 weeks. After 12 weeks, all participants in the placebo group will be crossed-over to receive PhytoSERM pills for the remainder of the study (open-label phase). Read Less

HYPOTHESIS: Pregnenolone administration will be associated with greater reduction in depressive symptom severity than placebo in women with current mMDD. STUDY AIMS: Primary Aim: Determine if pregnenolone is associated with greater reduction in depressive symptom severity than placebo in women with mMDD, as measured by MADRS. Secondary Aims: Determine if pregnenolone is associated with greater reduction in anxiety symptom severity than placebo in women with mMDD. Determine if pregnenolone is associated with greater improvement in cognition than placebo in women with mMDD. Determine if pregnenolone is associated with greater improvement in quality of life than placebo in women with mMDD. Determine if pregnenolone is associated with greater improvement in vasomotor symptoms of menopause than placebo. Mechanistic Aims: Determine whether changes in neurosteroid levels with pregnenolone mediate clinical response. Determine if baseline neurosteroid levels predict pregnenolone response. Determine whether depressive symptoms, anxiety, sleep or vasomotor symptoms improve first. A crossed-lagged panel model will explore serial correlations between changes in outcome measures. Read Less

The overall objective of this study is to examine the physiological responses that occur during a hot flush in postmenopausal women. The following specific aims will be executed to reach the overall objective of this study. Aim 1: To determine if hot flushes can be reliably induced with a temperature-controlled, water- circulating (TCWC) heating pad. Based on previous research, the investigators hypothesize that hot flushes will be inducible with the TCWC in symptomatic women, but not in asymptomatic women. Aim 2: To determine if heat-induced hot flushes in symptomatic women will cause reproducible cardiovascular and respiratory responses. The investigators hypothesize that heat-induced hot flushes produce similar and reproducible cardiovascular and respiratory responses to spontaneous hot flushes. Aim 3: To determine if body fat percentage influences hot flush severity or frequency during spontaneous or induced hot flushes. The investigators hypothesize that women with higher body fat have reduced hot flash severity and frequency. Read Less

Women in the menopause transition (perimenopause) experience substantial day-to-day variability in estradiol and have a 2-4-fold increase in major depression risk. About 40% of perimenopausal women are susceptible to the emergence of affective symptoms tied to changes in estradiol. Among the perimenopausal women with affective impairment, most report irritability, not "depression," is their primary source of impairment and distress. The purpose of this research is to determine the neurophysiologic basis of susceptibility to estradiol fluctuations and irritability symptoms in perimenopausal women. Read Less

The objective of this project is to provide evidence that L-Citrulline (CIT) supplementation can improve vascular function in the fasted and acute hyperglycemia conditions in middle-aged and older women with metabolic syndrome. Read Less

The objective of this project is to elucidate the effect of L-Citrulline (L-CIT) supplementation on vascular function at rest and during rhythmic handgrip exercise and functional sympatholysis via lower-body negative pressure in postmenopausal women with elevated blood pressure and hypertension. Read Less

This is an observational longitudinal study to advance the understanding of menstrual cycle and gynecologic health conditions including PCOS, infertility and breast cancer.The study will be hosted within the Research app(available on App Store), which allows a user to find, enroll, and participate in Apple-supported health-related research studies. Read Less

An impairment in vascular function can lead to the development of age-associated cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death in postmenopausal women. Regular aerobic exercise (AE) benefits vascular function in older men by reducing oxidative stress, however, similar AE training improvements are diminished or absent in postmenopausal women. not using estrogen-based hormone therapy. Vascular function and oxidative stress are improved with AE training in postmenopausal women treated with E2, suggesting an essential role of E2 in vascular adaptations to AE in women. Clinical use of E2 is contraindicated for this purpose, thus establishing alternative pharmacological approaches that could be administered as a substitute for E2 to improve AE signaling for vascular benefits and reducing CVD risk in E2-deficient postmenopausal women is biomedically important. The mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant MitoQ may be an alternative to E2 for restoring AE benefits in E2-deficient postmenopausal women given its recently established effectiveness for reducing oxidative stress and improving vascular function in that population. Accordingly, the overall aim of this application is to assess the efficacy of a 12-week randomized controlled trial of moderate intensity AE training combined with oral MitoQ (20 mg/d) compared to AE+oral placebo (PL) or No AE+MitoQ on vascular vasodilatory function (brachial artery flow-mediated dilation; FMD) in healthy E2-deficient postmenopausal women. Insight into the causes for the improvement related to molecules (e.g., nitric oxide) that promote vasodilation, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, and the influence of "circulating factors" will also be obtained. We hypothesize that AE+MitoQ will improve both FMD > AE+PL and > No AE+MitoQ, and that No AE+MitoQ will improve FMD > AE+PL. The greater improvements in endothelial function with AE+MitoQ vs. both AE+PL and No AE+MitoQ, and with No AE+MitoQ vs. AE+PL will be mediated by greater improvements in nitric oxide production, mitochondrial function, and mitochondrial and oxidative stress linked, at least in part, to changes in "circulating factors". The expected results from this study will establish the efficacy of MitoQ for restoring AE-vascular signaling in E2-deficient postmenopausal women and will provide the foundation for development of evidence-based guidelines for sex-specific AE programs for improving vascular health and preventing CVD in postmenopausal women. Read Less

The goal of this study is to perform a quantitative assessment of the psychometric properties of the Vulvovaginal Atrophy Questionnaire (VVAQ), a novel patient reported outcome measure (PROM), through a REDCap survey of menopausal women with and without symptomatic vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA)/genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). Read Less

The aim of this study is to determine if suvorexant can help treat the severity of insomnia in midlife women who are pre-diabetic. Read Less