Effects of sex hormones on bronchial reactivity during the menstrual cycle

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Bruno D’Agostino¹  Caroline A Owen⁴  Mario Polverino⁴  Francesco Rossi¹  Maria Rosaria Bucci²  Nikol Sullo¹  Carlo Santoriello⁴  Fiorentina Roviezzo²  Giuseppe Spaziano¹  Francesca Polverino³  Maria Matteis¹ 

[1] Department of Experimental Medicine-Section of Pharmacology, 2nd University of Naples, 80136 Naples, Italy;Department of Experimental Pharmacology, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy;The Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM, USA;Cava de’ Tirreni Hospital, Cava de’ Tirreni, Italy

关键词: Cyclic AMP;    Phosphodiesterases;    Testosterone;    Menstrual cycle;    Perimenstrual asthma;   

Others  :  862732
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2466-14-108

 received in 2013-08-13, accepted in 2014-06-26,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Many asthmatic women complain of symptom exacerbations in particular periods, i.e. during pregnancy and menstrual cycles (perimenstrual asthma: PMA)". The goal of this study was to study the effect of the luteal and follicular phases of the menstrual cycle on bronchial reactivity (BR) in a group of asthmatic women.

Methods

For this purpose, 36 pre-menopausal women were enrolled and underwent testing for resting pulmonary function, measurement of the diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO), and airway responsiveness to methacholine in the follicular and luteal phases of their menstrual cycles. We also measured plasma hormone levels and levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP; a mediator of bronchial smooth muscle contraction) and testosterone in induced sputum samples.

Results

Our study showed that about 30% of the asthmatic women had decreased PC₂₀FEV_1.0 in the follicular phase of menstrual cycle with a significant correlation between PC₂₀FEV_1.0 and serum testosterone levels. Moreover, marked increases in sputum testosterone levels (mean = 2.6-fold increase) together with significant increases in sputum cAMP concentrations (mean = 3.6-fold increases) were observed during the luteal phase of asthmatic patients, suggesting that testosterone contributes to the pathophysiology of PMA. We excluded the possibility that testosterone directly inhibits phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity as incubating PDE with testosterone in vitro did not reduce PDE catalytic activity.

Conclusions

In conclusion, our data show that PC₂₀FEV_1.0 was decreased in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle in about 30% of women and was associated with lower cAMP levels in sputum samples, which may contribute to bronchoconstriction. Our results also suggest a link between PMA and testosterone levels. However, whether these findings are of clinical significance in terms of the management of asthma or asthma worsening during the menstrual cycle needs further investigation.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Matteis et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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