抄録
Gonadotropin and steroid hormone levels in both peripheral and ovarian venous blood were measured in samples obtained from 20 Japanese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOs) and 10 normal women in early follicular phase (normal women) by radioimmunoassay. The change in the amount of steroid hormone following intravenous human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) or dexamethasone administration was investigated. The mean concentration in patients with PCOs was significantly higher than the concentrations found in normal women for LH (p<0.001), but not for FSH in peripheral blood. Significantly elevated ovarian venous steroid hormone levels in PCOs were found for 17α-hydroxypregnenolone (p<0.05), progesterone (p<0.05), 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (p<0.01), 4Δ-androstenedione (p<0.01), testosterone (p<0.01), estrone (p<0.01) and estradiol (p<0.05), but not for dehydroepiandrosteronesulfate (DHEAS). The ovarian dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) level was slightly elevated in PCOs. The concentration of ovarian 4Δ-androstenedione in PCOs reached twelve times as much as that in normal women. After the administration of HMG, all of the ovarian venous steroid hormone levels were elevated slightly and without significance in the short observation time for 10min. The DHEAS level was suppressed while the ovarian DHEA level remained high in PCOs following dexamethasone administration. These findings seem to indicate there is no adrenal involvement and no adrenal-like component in the ovary of PCOs, and no evidence of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and/or aromatase deficiency in this study. The increase in the steroid hormone secretion in PCOs is explained by the increase in ovarian production in polycystic enlarged ovaries.
