Atrial natriuretic peptide, oestradiol and progesterone in women undergoing spontaneous and gonadotrophin-stimulated ovulatory cycles.

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between the concentrations of oestradiol and progesterone on the one hand and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) concentrations on the other, during the follicular and luteal phases of spontaneous and gonadotrophin-stimulated ovulatory menstrual cycles. A total of 27 ovulatory women undergoing either a spontaneous (n = 9) or a gonadotrophin-stimulated (n = 18) cycle were selected for inclusion in this study. In comparison with spontaneous cycles, gonadotrophin-stimulated cycles had increased peak follicular oestradiol (mean +/- SE; 937 +/- 150 versus 195 +/- 18 pg/ml; P < 0.05) and midluteal progesterone (mean +/- SE; 44.0 +/- 7.4 versus 14.1 +/- 2.4 ng/ml; P < 0.05) concentrations. There were no differences in the circulating ANP concentrations between the follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. Despite the increased oestradiol and progesterone concentrations following gonadotrophin stimulation, no difference in ANP concentrations was seen between stimulated and spontaneous cycles. There was no correlation between circulating concentrations of oestradiol, progesterone (at physiological and supraphysiological concentrations) and ANP throughout the menstrual cycle.