月経前に現れる心身の不調は月経前症候群（premenstrual syndrome：以下PMS）と呼ばれている。PMS の特徴は月経前の黄体期後期に感情的症状や身体的症状の変化が出現し、月経開始とともにそれらの症状が減退、消失することである。PMS が重度の場合、生活の質を著しく低下させ、本人だけではなく彼女らの家族や仕事などの生活環境にも影響を及ぼすため社会的にも大きな問題であると考えられている。PMS の原因は過剰なエストロゲン、黄体ホルモンの欠乏またはエストロゲンと黄体ホルモンの比率の変化の関与が示唆されているが、PMSと性ホルモン濃度との関係については未だ解明されていない。よって本研究では、健常な女子大学生を対象にアンケートによりPMS 症状の程度を測定し、対象者の唾液から性ホルモンおよびストレス誘導ホルモンを解析し、PMS の程度と各種ホルモンとの関係について調べた。その結果、PMS 症状の強群は弱群と比較し、性周期を通して性ホルモンが高い値で推移し、とりわけ排卵期のテストステロンは強群で有意に高い値を示した。またストレス誘導ホルモンについては排卵期および黄体期で高い傾向を示した。これらのホルモンの動態が PMS 症状を重症化させる要因であると考えられた。

Mental and physical discomfort preceding menstruation is referred to as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). PMS is characterized by changes in emotional and physical symptoms in the late luteal phase before menstruation, followed by their subsequent decline or disappearance with the start of menstruation. In cases of severe PMS, the quality of life of women is significantly reduced, affecting not only the women themselves but also their living environments, such as their family and work; therefore, it is considered a major social problem.It has been suggested that the causes of PMS are excessive production of estrogen, deficiency of luteal hormone, or changes in the ratio of estrogen to luteal hormone; however, the factors involved in PMS are complicated, and the relationship between PMS and reproductive hormone levels in the sexual cycle has not been clarified yet.Therefore, in this study, we sought the cooperation of healthy female university students to participate in the experiment. We used a questionnaire to assess the degree of PMS symptoms ; we then analyzed the sex and stress-inducing hormones associated with the menstrual cycle from the participants’ saliva. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between the degree of PMS and various hormones to obtain findings to elucidate the means to alleviate PMS symptoms.The results showed that, compared to the mild PMS symptom group, reproductive hormones remained at a high level throughout the menstrual cycle in the strong PMS symptom group, and in particular, the testosterone level in the ovulation phase was significantly higher in the strong group. In addition, stress‒inducing hormones tended to be higher in the ovulation phase and luteal phase. The dynamics of these hormones were thought to be the factors exacerbating PMS symptoms.