Menstrual cycle in women addicted to alcohol during the first week following drinking cessation--changes of sex hormones levels in relation to selected clinical features.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of hormonal dysfunction in women addicted to alcohol during first week following drinking cessation; to determine whether fluctuations of hormone levels in follicular, ovulation and luteal phases in addicted women are equal to those normally found in healthy women; to determine the association between hormonal imbalances with selected clinical features.


METHODS
Biochemical parameters of liver function and hormone levels were assessed in 30 women treated for 30 days in a Short Term Therapy and Detoxification Ward. The following hormones were measured: prolactin (PROL), folliculotropin (FSH), luteotropin (LH), estradiol (ES) and testosterone (TEST)--(i) after menstruation, at follicular phase, between 5th and 7th day of the cycle; (ii) around ovulation, 11-14th day of the cycle; and (iii) before menstruation, at luteal phase, between 19th and 22th day of the cycle.


RESULTS
Mean PROL levels in all three cycle phases and progesterone level in follicular phase were above, while mean TEST level was below, the reference values. Over 50% of women had abnormally increased PROL values in all phases of the cycle while decreased values of PROG or LH were found in approximately 50% and >30% of study women.


CONCLUSIONS
The menstrual cycle disturbances in alcoholic women are most prominent around the middle part of the cycle and age influences the pattern of hormonal changes.
Augustyńska
B
B
Department of Pathobiochemistry and Clinical Chemistry, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland. augustynska@op.pl
Ziółkowski
M
M
Odrowaz-Sypniewska
G
G
Kiełpiński
A
A
Gruszka
M
M
Kosmowski
W
W
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000097:blood*; D008599:Menstruation Disturbances / Q000097:blood; D012016:Reference Values; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000097:blood*
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D000431:Ethanol