Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The anabolic hormones, namely GH, testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone, as well as the reproductive function of women, enter a period of progressive insufficiency which is characteristically designated as somatopause, andropause and adrenopause respectively. The aim of the study was to compare the endocrine functions between premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Subjects and methods: The study was included 40 premenopausal (mean age 34.9±4.8 years) and 40 post menopasal women (mean age 65.1±8.6 years) GH, free thyroxine (FT4), free triidotironin, TSH, adrenocorticortropichormone (ACTH), cortisol (COR), dehydoepiandrosteronesulfat (DHEA-S), FSH, LH, prolactin (PRL), testosterone, estradiol (E2) and fasting insulin levels were measured in all patients.

Results: Mean levels of FSH (P=0.04), LH (P=0.02), COR (P=0.01), ACTH (P<0.001) and fasting insulin (P=0.02) in post menopausal were higher than that of premenopausal women. However, E2 (P=0.04), TSH (P=0.01), FT4 (P=0.001), PRL (P=0.05) and DHEA-S (P=0.01) levels were lower in post menopausal than premenopausal women.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated that E2, TSH, FT4, PRL and DHEA-S levels were decreased with aging.