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. 2025 Jul 25;23:829. doi: 10.1186/s12967-025-06841-4

Table 10.

Significant differences in partial correlations between steroid pairs in myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic fatigue syndrome and control groups

Steroid 1 Steroid 2 r ME/CFS r CTRL Z statistic p value CI Lower CI Upper q value
17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) Pregnenolone (PNL) 0.534 -0.757 5.136 0.000 0.848 1.562 0.000
Androstenedione (Andro) Androstenedione (AED) 0.168 -0.852 4.643 0.000 0.567 1.396 0.000
Androstenedione (Andro) Progesterone (P4) -0.102 0.854 -4.455 0.000 -1.349 -0.509 0.000
Aldosterone (Aldo) 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) 0.091 -0.830 4.145 0.000 0.465 1.318 0.001
Androstenedione (AED) Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) -0.013 0.850 -4.118 0.000 -1.273 -0.424 0.001
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Progesterone (P4) 0.071 -0.821 3.990 0.000 0.434 1.294 0.001
Androsterone (ADT) Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) 0.645 0.960 -3.817 0.000 -0.635 -0.121 0.003
Androsterone (ADT) Pregnenolone (PNL) -0.051 0.797 -3.703 0.000 -1.258 -0.384 0.004
Aldosterone (Aldo) Progesterone (P4) 0.287 -0.679 3.637 0.000 0.451 1.339 0.004
11-Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) Pregnenolone (P5) -0.469 0.548 -3.642 0.000 -1.368 -0.486 0.004
Androsterone (ADT) Aldosterone (Aldo) -0.111 0.746 -3.481 0.001 -1.262 -0.367 0.006
Corticosterone (B) 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) -0.231 0.684 -3.475 0.001 -1.303 -0.400 0.006
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Corticosterone (B) -0.002 0.787 -3.456 0.001 -1.209 -0.327 0.006
Androsterone (ADT) Corticosterone (B) -0.178 -0.845 3.432 0.001 0.263 1.097 0.006
Estradiol (E2) 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) 0.533 -0.427 3.405 0.001 0.418 1.329 0.006
Aldosterone (Aldo) Corticosterone (B) -0.342 0.586 -3.334 0.001 -1.308 -0.389 0.006
Androsterone (ADT) 11-Deoxycortisol (11DOC) -0.315 0.610 -3.351 0.001 -1.306 -0.389 0.006
Cortisol (F) 11-Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) -0.691 0.182 -3.351 0.001 -1.272 -0.361 0.006
Estradiol (E2) Progesterone (P4) 0.372 -0.565 3.338 0.001 0.394 1.313 0.006
11-Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) 0.634 -0.254 3.265 0.001 0.357 1.281 0.007
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Cortisol (F) 0.073 -0.709 3.107 0.002 0.283 1.202 0.012
Androsterone (ADT) 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) 0.134 0.783 -2.977 0.003 -1.085 -0.210 0.018
Aldosterone (Aldo) Cortisol (F) 0.538 -0.293 2.923 0.003 0.274 1.236 0.018
Androstenedione (AED) Estradiol (E2) -0.287 0.543 -2.926 0.003 -1.235 -0.275 0.018
Corticosterone (B) Progesterone (P4) 0.384 0.864 -2.935 0.003 -0.894 -0.144 0.018
Testosterone (T) Cortisone (Cot) 0.309 -0.531 2.952 0.003 0.284 1.243 0.018
Testosterone (T) 11-Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) -0.239 0.570 -2.891 0.004 -1.221 -0.260 0.019
17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) Progesterone (P4) -0.025 -0.696 2.704 0.007 0.178 1.109 0.033
Androstenedione (AED) 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) 0.061 0.707 -2.654 0.008 -1.086 -0.162 0.037
Corticosterone (B) 11-Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) 0.694 0.042 2.639 0.008 0.161 1.093 0.038
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) 11-Deoxycortisol (11DOC) 0.070 -0.629 2.624 0.009 0.172 1.135 0.038
Corticosterone (B) Pregnenolone (P5) 0.382 -0.377 2.591 0.010 0.183 1.183 0.041
Aldosterone (Aldo) 11-Deoxycorticosterone (DOC) 0.213 -0.521 2.574 0.010 0.172 1.164 0.041
Aldosterone (Aldo) Pregnenolone (PNL) -0.324 -0.805 2.516 0.012 0.099 0.910 0.045
Corticosterone (B) Estradiol (E2) -0.039 0.626 -2.508 0.012 -1.107 -0.141 0.045
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Pregnenolone (PNL) -0.175 -0.740 2.503 0.012 0.116 1.008 0.045
Etiocholanolone (Etn) Pregnenolone (PNL) 0.447 -0.289 2.523 0.012 0.161 1.166 0.045
Cortisol (F) Estradiol (E2) 0.032 -0.616 2.434 0.015 0.122 1.094 0.053
Pregnenolone (PNL) Progesterone (P4) 0.037 -0.612 2.430 0.015 0.121 1.095 0.053
Cortisol (F) 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) 0.245 -0.429 2.296 0.022 0.095 1.119 0.074
11-Deoxycortisol (11DOC) 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) 0.292 -0.376 2.253 0.024 0.083 1.114 0.081
Etiocholanolone (Etn) Testosterone (T) 0.116 0.665 -2.219 0.026 -1.002 -0.060 0.086
Androsterone (ADT) Cortisol (F) 0.219 0.713 -2.173 0.030 -0.942 -0.044 0.090
Androsterone (ADT) Pregnenolone (P5) 0.025 -0.569 2.175 0.030 0.055 1.051 0.090
Corticosterone (B) 11-Deoxycortisol (11DOC) -0.107 0.514 -2.187 0.029 -1.075 -0.060 0.090
Aldosterone (Aldo) Pregnenolone (P5) 0.216 0.705 -2.128 0.033 -0.938 -0.035 0.094
Androstenedione (AED) Cortisone (Cot) 0.624 0.074 2.129 0.033 0.040 1.008 0.094
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Estradiol (E2) -0.038 -0.603 2.140 0.032 0.043 1.024 0.094
Androstenedione (AED) Progesterone (P4) 0.237 0.712 -2.104 0.035 -0.924 -0.029 0.098
Etiocholanolone (Etn) Cortisol (F) -0.197 0.414 -2.074 0.038 -1.070 -0.029 0.104
Androstenedione (AED) Pregnenolone (P5) 0.081 -0.505 2.062 0.039 0.025 1.047 0.105
Cortisone (Cot) Estrone (E1) -0.623 -0.098 -2.044 0.041 -0.985 -0.018 0.107
Androstenedione (AED) Pregnenolone (PNL) 0.183 0.667 -2.011 0.044 -0.941 -0.009 0.114
Cortisol (F) 11-Deoxycortisol (11DOC) 0.190 -0.395 1.976 0.048 0.000 1.050 0.121
Cortisol (F) Pregnenolone (P5) -0.395 0.185 -1.957 0.050 -1.046 0.005 0.121
Cortisol (F) Progesterone (P4) -0.340 -0.743 1.953 0.051 -0.003 0.839 0.121
Pregnenolone (P5) Progesterone (P4) -0.003 0.539 -1.963 0.050 -1.009 0.003 0.121

Adjusted p value; FDR = BH q < 0.05