Lifetime endogenous estrogen exposure and disease severity in female patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is characterized by large variability in disease severity, that is only partly explained by (epi)genetic factors. Clinical observations and recent in vitro work suggest a protective effect of estrogens in FSHD. The aims of this study were to assess whether the lifetime endogenous estrogen exposure contributes to the variability in disease severity in female patients, and whether female patients experience changes in disease progression during periods of hormonal changes. We calculated the lifetime endogenous estrogen exposure by subtracting periods with high progesterone levels (in which estrogens are counteracted) from the reproductive life span. Multiple linear regression in 85 patients did not show a contribution of the lifetime endogenous estrogen exposure to disease severity (B = 0.063, P-value = 0.517, ΔR = 0.003). The majority of women reported an unchanged rate of disease progression through periods of hormonal changes, like menarche, pregnancy or menopause. Women that noticed differences reported accelerations as well as decelerations. These results indicate that differences in estrogen exposure do not have a clinically relevant modifying effect on disease severity. However, a clinically relevant protective effect of greater differences in estrogen levels, or a protective effect caused by a more complex interplay with other reproductive hormones, cannot be ruled out.