

In young women, estrogen is produced from cholesterol in a series of reactions within the ovaries. The goal of the current work is to review the research that forms the basis of our understanding how estrogen affects muscle, tendon, and ligament and how hormonal manipulation can be used to optimize performance and promote female participation in an active lifestyle at any age.īeyond its role as a sex hormone, estrogen has important roles in the development, maturation, and aging of extragonadal tissues such as bone ( Hansen et al., 2009a Cui et al., 2013 Ling-Ling et al., 2016), muscle ( Dieli-Conwright et al., 2009 Enns and Tiidus, 2010), and connective tissues ( Hansen et al., 2009a, b Hansen and Kjaer, 2014 Hansen, 2018). High estrogen levels can decrease power and performance and make women more prone for catastrophic ligament injury. However, unlike bone and muscle where estrogen improves function, in tendons and ligaments estrogen decreases stiffness, and this directly affects performance and injury rates.

In these other musculoskeletal tissues, estrogen improves muscle mass and strength, and increases the collagen content of connective tissues. Beyond the known relationship between estrogen and bone, it directly affects the structure and function of other musculoskeletal tissues such as muscle, tendon, and ligament. 3Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesĮstrogen has a dramatic effect on musculoskeletal function.2Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.1Biomedical Engineering Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.

Nkechinyere Chidi-Ogbolu 1 and Keith Baar 1,2,3 *
