Influence of interferon therapy on sex hormones in patients with chronic hepatitis C

• Published in: Kanzo Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 207 - 212
• Main Authors: IWABUCHI, Shyougo, FUKUI, Shyouji, MUTO, Toshiya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japan Society of Hepatology 1997
• ISSN: 0451-4203; 1881-3593
• DOI: 10.2957/kanzo.38.207

Hormonal disturbances have been speculated to be a side effect of interferon (IFN) therapy, based on clinical experience. However, most previous studies have focused on only one or two sex hormones. Thus, the present study was designed to investigate general aspects of various sex hormones, as well as cholesterol, the major sex hormone precursor. The subjects included 24 males wlth chronic active hepatitis C who had initially been given IFN-a, daily for 2 weeks, and then three times per week for the following 10-22 weeks. As a result, 1) serum luteinizing hormone (LH) was significantiy decreased after IFNA therapy, 2) serum testosterone and estradiol levels were significantly decreased during IFN therapy, 3) serum free testosterone and total cholesterol levels were significantly decreased after daily administration of IFN but subsequently recovered to nearly normal levels, 4) serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and progesterane levels were unchanged during the caurse of this study. In conclusion, our data suggest that the hormonal disturbances induced by IFN therapy may account for the sexual dysfunction observed in the clinical setting.