Endocrine Abstracts

A number of evidence indicate that mood (affective) disorders are influenced by various bioactive steroids such as corticoids, sex hormones and neuroactive steroids. However, to date, there are limited data concerning the discrimination between patients suffering from the disorders and controls, or regarding the classification of individual subtypes of mood disorders on the basis of steroid profiling. Therefore 47 steroids including their conjugates and further related substances were measured in sera from male volunteers suffering from depressive disorders (D, n=20), anxiety disorders (AN, n=20), and in the group of age-comparable controls (C, n=30) using GC–MS and immunoassays. Based on this data, multivariate models for discrimination of D and C (sensitivity=100% and specificity=100%), AN and C (sensitivity=100% and specificity=100%), and D and AN (sensitivity=85% and specificity=90%) were built. When discriminating pathologies D and AN from C, the relevant predictors progesterone, allopregnanolone, and conjugated steroids negatively correlated with both AN and D groups, while LH showed the positive correlations. In addition, 5α-dihydrotestosterone and pregnanolone negatively correlated with D, while androstenedione, cortisol, 16α-hydroxy-steroids, and SHBG showed the positive correlations. Finally, pregnenolone, 20α-dihydropregnenolone, 7β-hydroxy-DHEA, and 5-androstene-3β,7α/β,17β-triols positively correlated with AN. In model discriminating the D and AN, the relevant predictors progesterone and cortisol positively correlated with AF, while LH, SHBG, sulphated Δ⁵ steroids, and 16α-hydroxy-DHEA showed the negative correlations. In conclusion, various circulating steroids including the neuroactive and neuroprotective ones efficiently predicted two groups of affective diseases in adult men. The data indicated suppressed activities of CYP17A1 and SULT2A1 enzymes in adrenal zona reticularis in affective patients and even more in depressive men. In addition, the results pointed to stimulated activities of immunoprotective 16α-hydroxylating- (CYP3A7) and 7β-hydroxylating enzymes (CYP3A4) in D and AN patients respectively.

Disclosure: Supported by grants IGA NT/13890-4 and NT12211-5 from the Czech Ministry of Health.