Are women with Sjogren's syndrome androgen-deficient?

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J Rheumatol. 2003 Nov;30(11):2413-9.

Are women with Sjogren's syndrome androgen-deficient?

Sullivan DA, Belanger A, Cermak JM, Berube R, Papas AS, Sullivan RM,

Yamagami H, Dana MR, Labrie F.

Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, 20 Staniford

Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA. sullivan@...

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesize that androgen deficiency is a critical

etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of aqueous-deficient and

evaporative dry eye in Sjogren's syndrome (SS). We investigated whether

women with SS have a deficiency in total androgens. We also examined

whether these patients have elevated serum concentrations of estrogens.

METHODS: Blood was drawn from women with primary and secondary SS and

age matched controls, and analyzed for steroid concentrations by gas and

liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Our results show that

women with SS are androgen-deficient. Concentrations of

5-androstene-3beta,17beta-diol (5-diol), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA),

dihydrotestosterone (DHT), androsterone-glucuronide (ADT-G), and

androstane-3a,17beta-diol-G (3alpha-diol-G) were all significantly

reduced in SS sera relative to controls. In contrast, SS was not

associated with significant alterations in the serum concentrations of

testosterone, androstenedione, estrone, or 17beta-estradiol. These

overall findings could not be attributed to the use of oral

contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy, because the

concentrations of 5-diol, DHEA, DHT, ADT-G and 3a-diol-G were also

decreased in patients with SS compared to levels in control women who

were not taking exogenous estrogens.

CONCLUSION: Our results show that women with SS are androgen-deficient.

PMID: 14677186