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Comparative Study
. 2021 Sep 28:2021:9947706.
doi: 10.1155/2021/9947706. eCollection 2021.

Evaluation of Sex Hormone Levels in Patients with Pemphigus Vulgaris in Comparison to the Healthy Population

Fatemeh Lavaee  1 , Fahimeh Rezazadeh  1 , Nasrin Saki  2 , Zahra Tavazo  3 , Saman Baghaei  3
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Evaluation of Sex Hormone Levels in Patients with Pemphigus Vulgaris in Comparison to the Healthy Population

Fatemeh Lavaee et al. Biomed Res Int. .

Abstract

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on patients with pemphigus vulgaris referred to Faghihi Hospital and Shiraz Dental Faculty in 2017-2018. The participants included 26 women with histopathologically confirmed pemphigus vulgaris and 26 healthy age-matched controls. The serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, prolactin, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) were evaluated in both groups. Independent t-test and two-way ANOVA were used for data analysis.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 49.88 ± 10.46 years and that of the control group was 49.92 ± 11.30 years. Unlike the case group, the DHEA serum level was significantly higher among nonmenopausal participants in the control group. Moreover, the levels of testosterone and DHEA were significantly lower in the case group in comparison to the control group (p = 0.015 and p = 0.026, respectively).

Conclusion: Considering the effects of age and menopause, the serum levels of testosterone and DHEA were significantly lower in the patients with pemphigus vulgaris than in the healthy controls. Hence, these hormones might have a role in the pathogenesis of pemphigus vulgaris.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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