THURSDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Hormonal changes characteristic of polycystic ovary syndrome observed in women with cystic fibrosis suggest the likelihood of ovary dysfunction associated with the disease, according to a report in the May issue of Fertility and Sterility.
Assimina Galli-Tsinopoulou, M.D., and colleagues from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, conducted a prospective study of 18 adolescents with cystic fibrosis to assess their hormone status and to correlate these findings with their fat measures, their menses and the ultrasonographic morphology of their ovaries. The study also included 18 healthy subjects.
The investigators found that levels of luteinizing hormone, luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone (LH/FSH), androstenedione and prolactin were significantly higher in the cystic fibrosis adolescents, while levels of sex hormone-binding globulin were lower and negatively correlated with body fat percentage. Ultrasound identified cysts in eight cystic fibrosis women, six of whom had LH/FSH levels higher than 3.
While cystic fibrosis has been linked to male infertility, a similar effect in women has been less clear. "Hormonal and ultrasonographic findings in the present study may indicate an ovarian dysfunction in female cystic fibrosis adolescents," the authors conclude. "A pelvic ultrasound scan should be performed annually, because these young women are at risk for torsion of ovaries."
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