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Boston, Massachusetts — Recent research indicates that the type of estrogen used in hormonal birth control could significantly impact anxiety-like behaviors, with synthetic estrogen linked to increased anxiety in rats. This finding underscores the importance of considering the type of estrogen in contraceptive formulations and its potential side effects on mental health.
Presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting, ENDO 2024, in Boston, the study was led by Abigail Hegwood, M.S., from the Prakapenka Lab. The research suggests that the specific type of estrogen in hormonal contraceptives may play a crucial role in mood and cognitive-related side effects.
“It is plausible that estrogen type is a key player in mood or cognitive-related side effects of hormone-based contraceptive use,” stated Alesia Prakapenka, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Biomedical Sciences program at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois.
According to the CDC, 12.6% of women in the United States between the ages of 15 and 49 used oral contraceptives from 2015 to 2017. Prakapenka and her colleagues noted that behavioral side effects are a common reason for discontinuing combination birth control.
Rat Model Study on Estrogen Types
In the study, researchers assigned 36 young adult female rats to one of three treatments: synthetic ethinyl estradiol plus dienogest, natural estradiol valerate plus dienogest, or a vehicle control. After four weeks, the rats were evaluated using the delayed spontaneous alternation task to assess spatial memory and the elevated plus maze to analyze anxiety-like behavior.
“We found that female rats treated with the synthetic estrogen exhibited elevated anxiety-like behaviors compared to those that received a vehicle control or natural estrogen,” Prakapenka explained. However, spatial memory remained consistent across the three groups.
The study also noted that navigation on the spatial memory task differed among the groups. Rats treated with synthetic estrogen showed increased habitual turn strategy use, a behavior associated with anxiety-like tendencies.
Implications for Contraceptive Use
“Altogether, our findings support the notion that estrogen type matters for behavioral outcomes associated with contraceptive use,” Hegwood said. The research identifies estrogen type as a potential clinical tool for managing behavioral side effects in females.
This study highlights the importance of further research into the different types of estrogen used in hormonal contraceptives and their varying effects on mental health. With these insights, healthcare providers could better tailor contraceptive options to minimize adverse side effects and improve the quality of life for users.
