Study Finds Clue to Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

Insulin-like growth factor-1 concentrations lower in women with severe premenstrual syndrome

THURSDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Women who experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder have significantly lower serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-1, according to research published in the May issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Susan Thys-Jacobs, M.D., of Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues conducted a study of 115 women, of whom 68 had premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and 47 were controls. The study looked at bone metabolism, N-telopeptide, osteocalcin and insulin-like growth factor-1; the women self-assessed their symptoms over a two-month period and underwent one month of hormone evaluation.

In women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, overall levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 were significantly lower, at 205.7 ng/mL, versus 240.2 ng/mL among the controls, a phenomenon that persisted throughout all five phases of the menstrual cycle. In the control group, indices of bone formation and resorption were greater than among the premenstrual dysphoric disorder group.

"The magnitude and consistency of the between-group differences in insulin-like growth factor-1 levels in these women, particularly in women whose health status is comparable but whose premenstrual syndrome symptoms so clearly differ, suggests a possible genotypic variation between these two groups of women," the authors conclude.

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