Circulating concentration of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) in women suffering from chronic idiopathic urticaria in relation to their pre- or post-menopausal status.

OBJECTIVE

As chronic urticaria in pre-menopausal women was accompanied by lower serum concentration of DHEA-S and because it had been known that endocrine profiles changed along with ageing, in the present study we investigated DHEA-S behaviour in post-menopausal women suffering from chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU).

METHODS

Serum concentration of DHEA-S was measured in 32 post-menopausal women, aged between 49 and 66, suffering from CIU, as well as in 30 healthy subjects matched for age, body mass index, and years since menopause.

RESULTS

No statistical difference in DHEA-S serum concentration was found between the CIU patients and the controls (median 99.63 ug/dl versus 108.25 ug/dl, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The observations made recently and those of our previous results may point to the existence of two different hormonal patterns of DHEA-S circulating concentration in female patients suffering from CIU, depending on age of the disease onset. The scope of the study has been limited however, due to the small number of subjects.