Endocrine and Metabolic Profiling
1 Sex-Specific Steroid Hormone Profiling
Principal Investigator:: Multiple groups
Institution:: Multi-centre
Contact/URL:: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-024-02334-1
Funder:: Institutional
Status:: Published 2024
Phase:: Observational (cross-sectional)
Cohort:: ME/CFS patients + healthy controls
Mechanism/Focus:: UHPLC-MS/MS analysis of circulating steroid hormones: mineralocorticoids (aldosterone), glucocorticoids (cortisol, corticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, cortisone), androgens (androstenedione, testosterone), and progestins (progesterone, 17\(\alpha\)-hydroxyprogesterone). Found sex-based differences in hormone profiles.
Primary Outcomes:: Sex-specific steroid hormone dysregulation in ME/CFS; reinforces need for sex-stratified analyses
Estimated Completion:: Published
Publication Medium:: Journal of Endocrinological Investigation
Document Relevance:: Ch. 8 (neuroendocrine dysfunction), Ch. 23 (epidemiology—sex differences)
The sex-based differences in steroid profiles may partly explain the female predominance in ME/CFS (\(\sim\) 3:1 female-to-male ratio) (Pipper et al. 2024). The use of mass spectrometry (rather than immunoassay) provides superior specificity for closely related steroid metabolites, reducing cross-reactivity artefacts that have confounded earlier HPA axis studies.