Short-term estradiol treatment enhances pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic responses to psychosocial stress in healthy young men.

Evidence from animal studies and clinical observations suggest that the activity of the pituitary-adrenal axis is under significant influence of sex steroids. The present study investigated how a short term elevation of estradiol levels affects ACTH, cortisol, norepinephrine, and heart rate responses to mental stress in healthy men. In a double blind study, 16 men received a patch delivering 0.