Department of Kinesiology, University of North Carolina Charlotte, USA.
Sports Med. 2011 Jan 1;41(1):73-86. doi: 10.2165/11536860-000000000-00000.
The relationship between physical activity levels and disease rates has become an important health-related concern in the developed world. Heart disease, certain cancers and obesity persist at epidemic rates in the US and Western Europe. Increased physical activity levels have been shown to reduce the occurrence of many chronic diseases leading to reductions in the burden on the healthcare system. Activity levels in humans are affected by many cultural and environmental factors; nevertheless, current research points to a strong biological input with potential genetic, neurological and endocrinological origins. Of unique interest, the sex hormones appear to have a very strong influence on activity levels. The current animal literature suggests that females tend to be more active than males due to biological pathways of estrogenic origin. The majority of human epidemiological and anthropological data, on the contrary, suggest women are less active than men in spite of this inherent activity-increasing mechanism. The purpose of this study is to review the current literature regarding the control of physical activity levels by the sex hormones in humans. Using the natural transitional phases of the aging endocrine system, natural periodicity of the menstrual cycle and pharmacological/hormone replacement therapy as variable experimental stages, some authors have been able to provide some information regarding the existence of an inherent activity-increasing mechanism in humans. In brief, activity levels during life stages prior to and after menopause do not significantly differ, despite the vast changes in sex hormone levels and function. Sex hormone differences throughout a regular menstrual cycle do not appear to influence activity levels in humans either; an effect that is pronounced in the female rodent. The use of hormone replacement therapies provides researchers with more systematic controls over hormone modulation in human subjects; however, this benefit comes with additional confounding variables, mostly due to disease or other states of malfunction. Despite the addition of these confounding factors, minor changes to the activity pattern have been observed in women, especially during the initial administration of the therapy. Observations are yet to be made in male subjects during replacement therapy. In general, some evidence exists suggesting that a biological mechanism extending from the sex hormones influences activity in humans. Unfortunately, despite a small number of investigative reports, the paucity of human research investigating how the sex hormones affect activity levels in humans prevents conclusive delineation of the mechanisms involved. Future research in this unique sub-field of endocrinology and exercise science utilizing more appropriate research protocols and effective techniques will provide definitive evidence of such mechanisms.
身体活动水平与疾病发生率之间的关系已成为发达国家一个重要的健康相关问题。在美国和西欧，心脏病、某些癌症和肥胖症的发病率仍居高不下。研究表明，增加身体活动水平可降低许多慢性疾病的发病率，从而减轻医疗保健系统的负担。人类的活动水平受到许多文化和环境因素的影响；然而，目前的研究指向一个强大的生物学输入，其潜在的遗传、神经和内分泌学起源。特别有趣的是，性激素似乎对活动水平有很强的影响。目前的动物文献表明，由于雌激素来源的生物学途径，女性往往比男性更活跃。然而，与这种内在的活动增强机制相反，大多数人类流行病学和人类学数据表明，女性的活动量低于男性。本研究的目的是综述目前关于性激素对人类身体活动水平控制的文献。利用衰老内分泌系统的自然过渡阶段、月经周期的自然周期性以及药理学/激素替代疗法作为可变的实验阶段，一些作者已经能够提供一些关于人类存在内在活动增强机制的信息。简而言之，尽管性激素水平和功能发生了巨大变化，但绝经前后生命阶段的活动水平并没有显著差异。整个正常月经周期的性激素差异似乎也不会影响人类的活动水平；而在雌性啮齿动物中，这种影响则更为明显。激素替代疗法的使用为研究人员在人类受试者中提供了对激素调节更系统的控制；然而，这种益处伴随着更多的混杂变量，主要是由于疾病或其他功能障碍状态。尽管增加了这些混杂因素，但在女性中观察到了活动模式的微小变化，尤其是在治疗开始时。在接受替代治疗的男性中尚未进行观察。总的来说，有一些证据表明，从性激素延伸的生物学机制影响人类的活动。不幸的是，尽管有少数调查报告，但缺乏人类研究来调查性激素如何影响人类的活动水平，这使得无法明确界定所涉及的机制。未来在这个独特的内分泌学和运动科学子领域进行的研究，利用更合适的研究方案和有效的技术，将为这些机制提供明确的证据。
