Changes in serum cytokine concentrations during the menopausal transition.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to clarify the changes in serum concentrations of 17 cytokines in healthy women during the menopausal transition by using a multiplexed cytokine assay and to clarify the associations of these cytokines with serum estradiol concentration.


METHODS
Sixteen premenopausal, 54 perimenopausal and 52 postmenopausal women were enrolled in this study. Seventeen cytokines in serum samples were measured simultaneously using a Bio-Plex human cytokine 17-Plex assay.


RESULTS
Serum IL-6 concentration showed a weak positive correlation with age (r=0.196, p<0.05). Postmenopausal women for whom less than 5 years had passed since menopause showed significant (p<0.05) increase in serum concentrations of IL-2, GM-CSF and G-CSF, while serum IL-4 concentration was significantly (p<0.05) increased in postmenopausal women for whom more than 5 years had passed since menopause. Serum estradiol concentration showed a significant negative correlation with serum IL-6 concentration and weak negative correlations with serum concentrations of IL-2, IL-8 and GM-CSF.


CONCLUSIONS
We were able to simultaneously measure the levels of 17 cytokines using a highly sensitive cytokine assay, and we found that the changes in serum cytokine concentrations during the menopausal transition differed. We also found that serum IL-6 concentration during the menopausal transition was negatively correlated with serum estradiol concentration.
Yasui
Toshiyuki
T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tokushima, Kuramoto-cho 3-18-15, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan. yasui@clin.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp
Maegawa
Masahiko
M
Tomita
Junko
J
Miyatani
Yuka
Y
Yamada
Masayo
M
Uemura
Hirokazu
H
Matsuzaki
Toshiya
T
Kuwahara
Akira
A
Kamada
Masaharu
M
Tsuchiya
Naoko
N
Yuzurihara
Mitsutoshi
M
Takeda
Shuichi
S
Irahara
Minoru
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008593:Menopause / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged
D016207:Cytokines; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D015847:Interleukin-4; D004958:Estradiol; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor