IBYME   02675
INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA Y MEDICINA EXPERIMENTAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Progesterone and Cortisol levels in plasma of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Correlation with Prognostic Factors and Survival
Autor/es:
GARGIULO MONACHELLI G; MEYER M; RODRÍGUEZ G; GARAY L; SICA REP; DE NICOLA AF ; GONZALEZ DENISELLE, MC
Lugar:
Seefeld
Reunión:
Congreso; First International Syposium of the Journal: Hormone Molecular Biology and Clinical Investigation; 2010
Resumen:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
is a neurodegenerative disorder. Worse prognostic factors in ALS are: a)
advanced age; b) bulbar onset; c) short time between onset and diagnosis.
Progesterone (PROG) has been associated with neuroprotective and promyelinating
activities in injury, ischemia and degeneration of the central and peripheral
nervous system (CNS and PNS). Cortisol, is connected to the response to stress
situations and might contribute to neuronal damage. The goals of the study were
i) to investigate whether PROG levels are modified by ALS prognostic factors;
ii) to determine whether cortisol follows the same pattern. We determined serum
steroid levels in 27 patients with sporadic ALS (sALS)
and 21 controls. Both steroid hormones showed significantly increased levels in
ALS patients versus controls (mean ± SEM: PROG ALS vs control: 0.54 ± 0.05 vs
0.39 ± 0.04 ng/ml, p<0.05; cortisol ALS vs control: 17.02 ± 1.60 vs 11.83 ±
1.38 mg/dl;
p<0.05). A trend toward higher levels of PROG were demonstrated in spinal
onset patients compared to bulbar onset (p=0.07), positive correlation with
survival time (RRho=0.43, p=0.04)
and a trend toward significance with time to diagnosis (RRho=0.36,
p=0.06). These correlations have not been demonstrated for
cortisol. Conclusion: Elevated serum
steroid levels in sALS were probably due to hyperfunction of the HPA axis.
However, only PROG correlated with better prognostic factors. Future studies
will determine if the different behavior of PROG and cortisol relate to any
particular role they may play during the course of this motor neuron
degenerative disease.