Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41554246›Full record

ArticleVaccine2026

Inflammatory mechanisms of menstrual cycle changes following COVID-19 vaccination in adolescents.

Ariel B Handy, Boyu Ren, Laura C Seidman, Steven W Granger, Laura A Payne

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Vaccine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ariel B HandyMcLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Boyu RenMcLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Laura C SeidmanMcLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States.
Steven W GrangerSalimetrics, LLC, Carlsbad, CA, United States.
Laura A PayneMcLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States. Electronic address: LPayne@mclean.harvard.edu.

Funding

Inflammatory Processes in Adolescent Girls with Primary DysmenorrheaR01HD093680 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI PAYNE, LAURA A · 2018 to 2023
$3.6M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD093680
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeChanges in menstrual cycle characteristics following COVID-19 vaccination have been reported in women and adolescent girls, yet the biological mechanisms underlying these changes remain poorly understood. Inflammation, though frequently hypothesized as a possible mechanism underlying this finding, has yet to be explicitly studied. Thus, the present study examined the relationships of ovarian hormones and inflammatory processes pre- and post-COVID-19 booster vaccination to menstrual changes among adolescent girls.

methods47 adolescent girls aged 13-20 who received a COVID-19 booster vaccination provided saliva samples and completed self-reported measures at five time points across the menstrual cycle. Saliva samples were assayed for inflammatory markers IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and ovarian hormones estradiol (E2) and progesterone.

resultsHigher levels of IL-1β, measured 24 h post-vaccination, were significantly associated with shorter cycle length in the cycle during which the booster was administered. No significant effects were found for ovarian hormones or other inflammatory markers. Cluster analyses based on anti-spike immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels identified two distinct immune response profiles (high and low responders), though this was not significantly associated with menstrual cycle changes.

conclusionsPro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β plays a significant role in explaining the shortening of the menstrual cycle following COVID-19 vaccination in adolescent girls, primarily impacting the cycle in which the vaccine was received This finding suggests that vaccine-induced inflammation can influence menstrual cycle regulation in adolescents, possibly due to the immaturity of the HPO-axes during adolescence.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesInflammationMenstrual CycleAdolescentEstradiolFemaleHumansImmunization, SecondaryImmunoglobulin GInterleukin-1betaInterleukin-6ProgesteroneSalivaSARS-CoV-2Tumor Necrosis Factor-alphaCOVID-19 VaccinesEstradiolImmunoglobulin GInterleukin-1betaInterleukin-6ProgesteroneTumor Necrosis Factor-alphaAdolescentsCOVID-19 vaccinationIL-1βInflammationMenstrual cycle

Identifiers

PMID41554246
PMCPMC12917941

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.