ENDOGENOUS PROGESTERONE IS ASSOCIATED TO AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS PROGNOSTIC FACTORS

GARGIULO MONACHELLI, G.M; MEYER M; RODRIGUEZ G; GARAY L; SICA REP; DE NICOLA A. F.; GONZALEZ DENISELLE MC

ACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2011 vol. 123 p. 60 - 67

0001-6314

Negative prognostic factors in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis include advanced age, shorter time from disease onset to diagnosis, bulbar onset and rapid progression rate.Objective: To compare progesterone and cortisol serum levels in patients and controls and to ascertain its relationship to prognostic factors and survival. Methods: We assessed serum hormonal levels in 27 patients and 21 controls.Results: Both hormones were 1.4-fold higher in patients. Progesterone showed a negative correlation with age (RRho=-0.48, p=0.01), positive correlation with survival (RRho=0.43, p=0.04) and a trend toward significance with time to diagnosis (RRho=0.36, p=0.06). Increased progesterone was observed in spinal onset and slow progression patients. No correlation was demonstrated with cortisol.Conclusion: Increased hormonal levels in patients are probably due tohypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation. Nevertheless, only progesterone correlated positively with factors predicting better prognosis and survival. We hypothesize endogenous progesterone and cortisol may be engaged in differential roles, the former possibly involved in a neuroprotective response. Keywords: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Cortisol, Progesterone, Prognostic factors,Neuroprotection, Survival.