Table 2.
Symptom ratings, plasma estradiol and progesterone levels across the three hormone conditions
| Hypogonadism |
Estradiol addback |
Progesterone addback |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controls | PMD | Controls | PMD | Controls | PMD | |
| PMTS-R | 2.1 ± 3.6 | 1.9 ± 2.6 | 1.2 ± 2.3 | 4.2 ± 4.4 | 0.8 ± 1.3 | 7.1 ± 7.1 |
| Estradiol (pg/ml) | 10.6 ± 4.3 | 10.5 ± 4.7 | 82.1 ± 74.3 | 50.6 ± 31.6 | 10.1 ± 6.7 | 10.2 ± 3.8 |
| Progesterone (ng/ml) | 0.4 ± 0.1 | 0.7 ± 0.4 | 0.4 ± 0.2 | 0.6 ± 0.3 | 18.7 ± 7.6 | 20.4 ± 9.7 |
Results are shown as mean ± sd. PMTS-R scores showed a significant effect of diagnosis [F(1,41) = 15.5; P < 0.001] and diagnosis by hormone condition [F(2,82 = 9.0; P < 0.001] that on post hoc testing reflected a significant difference between the PMTS-R scores in women with PMD compared with controls during both estradiol and progesterone [Bonferroni t123 = 5.3, P < 0.01 (progesterone); Bonferroni t123 = 2.5, P < 0.05 (estradiol)], whereas there was no significant difference between women with PMD and controls during hypogonadism (Bonferroni t123 = 0.2; P value is NS). ANOVA-R of the plasma estradiol and progesterone levels during each of the three hormonal conditions did not show any significant main or interactive effects of diagnosis with hormone condition (P value is NS for all comparisons). However, as expected by the design, significant differences were observed between the estradiol levels during estradiol compared with either hypogonadism or progesterone (Bonferroni t82 = 7.7, P < 0.01; Bonferroni t82 = 7.8, P < 0.01) and significant increases in plasma progesterone levels during progesterone compared with both hypogonadism and estradiol (Bonferroni t82 = 17.8, P < 0.01; Bonferroni t82 = 17.9, P < 0.01). Plasma levels of estradiol during the estradiol addback were similar to those during the early to midfollicular phase, and plasma levels of progesterone during the progesterone addback were similar to those during the luteal phase of an ovulatory menstrual cycle. Plasma progesterone and estradiol were analyzed by ELISA (ALPCO Diagnostics kit, Core Laboratory, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD), with intraassay and interassay coefficients of variation, respectively, as follows: progesterone, 7.0–7.3 and 8.0–9.2%; and estradiol, 7.0 and 4.4–5.5%.