Energy deficiency, menstrual disorders, and low bone mineral density in female athletes: a systematic review

Purpose: Low energy availability (LEA) may lead to menstrual disorders and low bone mineral density, predisposing to the female athlete triad. The primary aim of the present review was to systematically investigate the impact of chronic strenuous exercise on the energy status of professional female athletes compared to sedentary, recreationally active controls as concerns their menstrual status and bone mineral density (BMD). A secondary aim was evaluation of the combined prevalence of the components of the female athlete triad in athletes as compared to non-athletes. Methods: A systematic review was conducted from 2007 to February 2018. The inclusion and exclusion criteria of the studies were established in advance of the literature search according to the clinical inquiry and the study design. Results: Four studies were included in this systematic review. The female athlete triad was more prevalent in professional athletes compared to non-athletes. The same results were obtained for both LEA and menstrual disorders. However, BMD and Z-scores showed high heterogeneity among the studies. Conclusion: Both female athletes and non-athletes are prone to LEA and subsequent menstrual disorders and low BMD or osteoporosis. Future studies are needed to examine energy availability in elite female athletes as well as in non-athletes. © 2021, Hellenic Endocrine Society

Induction of embryo development and fixation of partial interspecific lines after pollination of F-1 cotton interspecific hybrids (Gossypium barbadense x Gossypium hirsutum) with pollen from Hibiscus cannabinus

The possibility of inducing embryo development after pollination of F-1 interspecific cotton hybrids ( Gossypium barbadense x Gossypium hirsutum) and their reciprocals with pollen from Hibiscus cannabinus was investigated. For this, flowers of F-1 plants from 4 G. barbadense x G. hirsutum interspeci. c hybrids (B403 x Acala Sindos, Carnak x 4S, B403 x Coker 310, and Carnak x Acala Sindos) and their reciprocals grown in the field were pollinated with pollen from Hibiscus cannabinus. From the 443 pollinated flowers, 276 were left on the plant to grow naturally, and 167 were collected 5 days after pollination. Young ovules from the collected buds were cultured in vitro for embryo development. It was observed that, from the buds left to grow naturally on the mother plant, 21 bolls reached maturity. The mature bolls originated only from the 4 G. barbadense x G. hirsutum hybrids and contained 82 mature seeds. Finally, 38 plants (Pa0) were produced. From the in-ovule culture method, 10 young embryos were isolated from both G. barbadense x G. hirsutum and G. hirsutum x G. barbadense hybrids and finally 3 plants were produced. The plants produced from both approaches originated only from the G. barbadense x G. hirsutum hybrids. These plants exhibited morphological traits from both cotton species and they were partially fertile. No signs of H. cannabinus morphological traits were observed in the plants produced. Root-tip chromosome counts revealed that chromosome number among cells of the Pa0 plants ranged from 27 to 42 and the difference in chromosome number observed among cells of the same plant ranged from 1 to 3. The chromosome number, however, was increased progressively from generation to generation and in Pa3 it ranged from 46 to 52. Plants with 52 chromosomes were identified even from the Pa1 generation. In addition, flow cytometric analysis indicated that the parental plants had a similar DNA profile to the F-1 and F-2 interspecific hybrids but a different one from the Pa0 plants. Thus, alien pollination of cotton flowers from interspeci. c ( G. barbadense x G. hirsutum and reciprocals) hybrids with pollen from H. cannabinus most likely induced parthenogenetic (Pa) egg cell development which, after a progressive chromosome increase, produced fully fertile plants with most of the cells at the tetraploid or near-tetraploid level. It was concluded that a combination of the in situ boll development with an optimised in vitro ovule culture technique could establish the 'cannabinus method' in cotton, as a method for the production of genotype-independent partial interspecific lines