Sex Hormones and Prolactin Ranges in Sickle Cell Disease Subjects in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

The severity of the sickling phenomenon has been observed to be more at pre puberty, but at puberty, the level of crises becomes fairly stable. This has been attributed to the sex hormones that are responsible for development of the sexual characteristics in both male and female. This study was designed to establish the normal level of these hormones (estradiol, progesterone, testosterone and prolactin) in the serum of persons with sickle cell disease in a steady state and in the other haemoglobin genotypes (HbAA, HbAS) with respect to age and gender. This is with the aim to establish sex hormone ranges and if there is significant difference in the level of these hormones in homozygous SS subjects as a result of the sickling phenomenon in southern Nigeria. Enzyme linked immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method was used to estimate the level of the hormones. From the result, the level of the hormones showed a significant difference (P<0.05) in the gender, the age groups and the HbSS Subjects. The level of the hormones studied also increased with age in the three human haemoglobin electrophoretic patterns. The hormones were decreased significantly in the serum of the HbSS subjects and there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the values obtained for the control ( HbAA and HbAS) subjects.  The findings indicated gonadal hypofunction in the sickle cell patients but with varied deviations from the mean result.

Keywords: Estradiol; Progesterone; Testosterone; Prolactin; Sex hormones; Sickle cell; Haemoglobin electrophoresis; genotypes.