This study will examine whether estrogen administration in postmenopausal women can alter the response to changes in brain chemistry brought about by dietary manipulation. Women who are recently menopausal (50-60 yrs. of age) and over 20 years postmenopausal (>70 yrs. of age) will take estrogen or placebo for three months. At the end of that time they will participate in three challenges using dietary techniques to briefly change the relative amounts of neurotransmitters in the brain that are believed to be related to mood regulation (serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine). Previous research has shown that these dietary manipulations can briefly produce negative changes in mood. The investigator hypothesizes that estrogen administration will blunt or buffer these negative effects in a quantifiable way. The investigator believes that this will provide a direct test of the ability of estrogen to meaningfully change the brain chemistry of mood in a clinically measurable and positive way. The proposed procedure will also allow assessment of the effects of estrogen on brain neurotransmitter systems after many years of very low estrogen levels.

Condition	Treatment or Intervention	Phase
Menopause	Drug: Estrogen	Phase II

Ages Eligible for Study:  50 Years and above,  Genders Eligible for Study:  Female

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Postmenopausal
• Non-smoker
• BMI <30
• Healthy
• Without surgically-induced menopause
• Not on HRT or >1 year post HRT
• Normal mammogram within last year
• No cardiovascular disease other than mild hypertension

Julie Dumas      1-802-847-2523 

Vermont
      University of Vermont, Burlington,  Vermont,  05401,  United States; Recruiting

Study ID Numbers:  NCRR-M01RR00109-0741; M01RR00109
Record last reviewed:  December 2003
Last Updated:  March 25, 2005
Record first received:  June 1, 2000
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00005768
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-04-08