The Influence of Gonadal Hormone Suppression on Adipocyte Lineage and the Microbiome

This research study plans to learn more about the role of female sex hormones on adipose
tissue (or fat) and the gut microbiome (or the organisms that are in your digestive tract).
The rationale for this study is that the rate at which women gain fat (especially in the
stomach region) increases after menopause. It is thought to be due to the loss of estrogen
because post-menopausal women who take estrogen gain less weight than those who do not take
estrogen. Gut bacteria process estrogen and help determine the types of estrogen that
circulate in the body. These bacteria can be changed with lifestyle factors such as diet, and
may therefore, also affect the risk of diseases that are more common in women after menopause
i.e., cardiovascular disease and cancer. In this study the investigators will obtain fat
biopsies before and after 6 months of ovarian hormone suppression to measure how the fat
cells change with the loss of female sex hormones (e.g., medical menopause). The
investigators will also obtain stool and urine samples before and every month during the
study to measure changes in the microbiome.