THE RELATION OF BODY-SIZE TO PLASMA-LEVELS OF ESTROGENS AND ANDROGENSIN PREMENOPAUSAL WOMEN (MARYLAND, UNITED-STATES)

We analyzed data from a cross-sectional study of 107 premenopausal wom en to evaluated the relations of height, weight, and body mass index ( BMI) with plasma hormone levels. Participants were 20- to 40-year old women residing in Maryland (United States), whose reported menstrual c ycle lengths were not more than 35 days and whose measured weights for height were 85 to 130 percent of 'desirable' based on 1983 Metropolit an Life Insurance tables. Fasting blood specimens were collected on ea ch of days 5-7, 12-15, and 21-23 of every participant's menstrual cycl e and pooled to create follicular, midcycle, and luteal phase samples, respectively, for analysis. Adjusted for age, taller women had signif icantly higher follicular-phase plasma-estradiol levels (percent diffe rence/cm = 1.5, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 0.3-2.7, and hea vier women had significantly lower plasma sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels averaged across the menstrual cycle phases (percent dif ference/kg = -1.2; CI = -1.9-0.6). Body weight within the range studie d, however, was not related significantly to the concentration of SHBG -bound estradiol during any phase of the menstrual cycle. The results of this cross-sectional study suggest a possible mechanism by which he ight may influence breast cancer risk.