Effects of oral contraceptives on women’s health: Age and gut microbiota may be determining factors EurekAlert!

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In a manuscript published in Frontiers In Neuroendocrinology, a team from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences discusses how several factors contribute to these sex differences, using age of onset of OC and individual The gut microbiota is the key identifying factor.

A team from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences discussed how several factors may contribute to these sex differences, using age at onset of OC and an individual’s gut microbiome as key identifiers.

Nafissa Ismail is the University Research Chair in Stress and Mental Health, she is a full professor in the School of Psychology and director of the NISE (Neuroimmunology, Stress and Endocrinology) Laboratory. She discusses the study’s findings below.

ask: How Widely Are Oral Contraceptives Used?
Nafissa Ismail:First introduced in the 1960s, oral contraceptives are among the most commonly prescribed medications for women, with an estimated 100 million women worldwide using them. They often contain synthetic hormones and are often used during the teenage years for the following purposes: birth control, acne, PMS, etc.

ask: What do you observe and study?
Nafissa Ismail：Researchers believe that around 20% of users experience negative consequences, but lack the knowledge to understand why. We know that not all women who take OCs experience adverse effects on mood and cognition, and there are significant individual differences. What we really need to know is whether it is safe to prescribe oral contraceptives, or even other hormonal contraceptives, to young women.

ask:Not all women experience depression. Can you provide some reasons for those who do?
Nafissa Ismail：Our study suggests that one possible factor may be the age at which OCs were initiated. Women who start taking OCs during early adolescence may be more likely to experience these adverse effects on mood. We also suggest that the gut microbiome may be an important mediator of the effects of OCs on mood, since OCs are orally administered, and the gut microbiome can modulate symptoms of depression.

ask:Why is age so important to OCs?
Nafissa Ismail：Adolescence is a critical period of development during which the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (primarily responsible for the onset of puberty) becomes active and undergoes maturation, leading to increased production and release of gonadal steroid hormones (i.e., gonadal hormones). estradiol, progesterone and testosterone), leading to the development of secondary sex characteristics and sexual maturity. During this time, the brain also undergoes extensive remodeling and reorganization, resulting in endogenous sex hormone-driven structural/functional changes. Understanding the effects of OCs on adolescent brain development is important because these effects may be mediated by the gut-brain axis. “

ask:What have you learned from OCs?
Nafissa Ismail：“This work is important because women’s health research has been neglected for decades and there are many issues specific to women’s health that need to be addressed immediately. We cannot say whether it is safe to prescribe oral contraceptives to young women because many factors must be considered, But we hope that by providing this information, women will be able to make informed decisions for themselves.

article title

Combined oral contraceptives and mental health: Are adolescence and the gut-brain axis the missing links?