SFEBES2015 Poster Presentations Steroids (49 abstracts)
1Academic Unit of Endocrinology, Department of Human Metabolism, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; 2National Institutes of Health Clinical Centre, Bethesda, Maryland, USA; 3Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Background: In men there is a strong relationship between androgens and erythropoiesis; however this has not been shown in women. Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) if uncontrolled may have high androgen levels and if over treated with glucocorticoids low androgen levels. Therefore CAH provides a potential model to examine the relationship between androgens and erythropoiesis in women.
Aim: To investigate the relationship between androgens and erythropoiesis in women with CAH.
Methodology: A retrospective analysis of data from two cohorts of CAH patients. Androgen levels and blood counts performed on the same day were collected. Cohort 1: 27 women and cohort 2: 53 women with CAH.
Results: Mean age; cohort 1, 35.5±13.2 years and cohort 2, 30.8±11.3. There was a positive correlation of testosterone, androstenedione and 17-OH progesterone (17-OHP) levels with haemoglobin (Hb) and haematocrit (Hct) in both cohorts (Table 1).
17-OHP | Androstenedione | Testosterone | ||||
Cohort 1 | Cohort 2 | Cohort 1 | Cohort 2 | Cohort 1 | Cohort 2 | |
Hb | r=0.420 (P=0.0069) | r=0.319 (0.02) | r=0.413 (P=0.0012) | r=0.445 (P=0.001) | r=0.444 (P=0.0028) | r=0.470 (P=0.0001) |
Hct | r=0.356 (P=0.024) | r=0.274 (P=0.047) | r=0.435 (P=0.0006) | r=0.398 (P=0.003) | r=0.367 (P=0.0154) | r=0.449 (P=0.001) |
Conclusions: There is a positive correlation between adrenal androgens and erythropoiesis in women with CAH, which was seen across two different cohorts. Suboptimal control of androgens in this group of patients may increase the risk of either polycythaemia or anaemia. Haemoglobin and haematocrit may be used as additional biomarkers of disease control in women with CAH.