Endocrine Abstracts

We studied 74 women admitted to the Department of Gynecological Endocrinology University of Medical Sciences of Poznan because of climacteric symptoms. All the studied women were older than 40 years of age, all were still menstruating or had their last menstruation not later than 1 year ago.

The aim of the study was evaluation of possible relationship between serum 17β-estradiol concentration and depression symptoms presence in climacteric women.

We evaluated climacteric syndrome severity with the use of Kupperman index, the severity of depression symptoms with the use of Hamilton scale, serum FSH, LH and 17β-estradiol concentration with the use of immunoenzymatic assay.

The mean value of Kupperman index in the study group was 27 points (S.D.±14 points), the mean value of Hamilton scale was 12 points (S.D±6 points). The mean serum FSH concentration was 53.2 IU/l (S.D±41.8 IU/l), the mean serum LH concentration was 33 IU/l (S.D±22.4 IU/l) and the mean 17β-estradiol serum concentration was 87.9 pg/ml (S.D±123.3 pg/ml). Among the depression symptoms included in the Hamilton scale we found statistically relevant differences in 17β-estradiol concentration in relation to sleep disturbances, lack of interest and psychic symptoms of fear and restlessness (all Mann–Whitney U test P<0.05).

We concluded that 17β-estradiol plays an important role in the etiology of depression symptoms in climacteric women.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This work was supported, however, funding details unavailable.