ACTH and cortisol response to Dex/CRH testing in women with and without premenstrual dysphoria during GnRH agonist-induced hypogonadism and ovarian steroid replacement

What Was Tested

This controlled clinical trial paper looks at ACTH (Corticotropin) and Leuprolide.

Their objective was to characterize the HPA axis response to physiological levels of estradiol and progesterone in women with PMD and AC.

Why It Was Studied

During conditions of ovarian suppression, women with premenstrual dysphoria (PMD) experience abnormal behavioral responses to physiological levels of ovarian steroids.

Although hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation frequently accompanies depression, and ovarian steroids regulate HPA axis responsivity, the role of HPA axis dysregulation in PMD is not known.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as teenagers, young adults, adults and middle-aged adults, women only.

The researchers conducted an open-label trial of the GnRH agonist depot Lupron with ovarian steroid replacement administered in a double-blind crossover design in an outpatient clinic.

Forty-three women (18 with prospectively confirmed PMD and 25 AC) participated.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a double-blind, open-label and crossover study.

As a double-blind ACTH (Corticotropin) study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Nothing was hidden in this open-label ACTH (Corticotropin) study: the participants and staff both knew the treatment.

In the crossover set-up each of the participants took both ACTH (Corticotropin) and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

The methods mention a period of 6 months.

Women received Lupron for 6 months.

During each condition, combined dexamethasone-suppression/CRH-stimulation tests and 24-h urinary free cortisol levels were performed.

What Was Measured

During conditions of ovarian suppression, women with premenstrual dysphoria (PMD) experience abnormal behavioral responses to physiological levels of ovarian steroids.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone, Dexamethasone, Estradiol, Fertility Agents, Female, Glucocorticoids and Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a double-blind, open-label and crossover study of ACTH (Corticotropin) and Leuprolide over 6 months.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2012 (The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism), a journal based in United States.

More context: the ACTH (Corticotropin) compound page and the Leuprolide compound page, all human trials.