Among women, investigation of the effects of the menstrual cycle on alcohol pharmacokinetics yielded mixed results (213). One of the best controlled published studies on this topic found no evidence that changes in sex steroids during the menstrual cycle influence alcohol pharmacokinetics (214). Mumenthaler and collaborators used a within-subject design in 24 females who consumed the same dose of alcohol during the menstrual and luteal phases of their cycle, and estradiol and progesterone were measured in blood for each study day. Despite remarkable differences in estradiol and progesterone concentrations in the menstrual and luteal phases, there were no pharmacokinetic differences. However, given the bidirectional effect between the acute effect of alcohol and reproductive hormones and its importance in health (e.g., breast cancer; (215, 216)), more research in this area is needed.
