Cigarette smoking and progesterone and androgen metabolites in premenopausal women

BACKGROUND: Smoking represents the most widespread substance dependence in the world. Several studies show nicotine's ability to alter women hormonal homeostasis. Women smokers have higher testosterone and lower estradiol levels throughout life compared to women non-smokers. This negatively affects women's reproductive function. Furthermore, alteration of neuroactive and neuroprotective steroids occurs in women smokers, and this plays an important role in the activity of the central nervous system, cognition, mental condition, and degree of substance dependence. METHODS: We monitored the effect of smoking discontinuation on steroid spectrum in 40 premenopausal women heavy smokers. These women were examined before they began to discontinue smoking, and after 6, 12, 24 and 48 weeks of abstinence. In each examination, blood was collected to determine steroid spectrum, LH, FSH, and SHBG; basic anthropometric data were also measured using GC-MS or immunoanalysis. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) model was used for evaluation of the data. RESULTS: Given the small number of women who persisted in not smoking, only the data after 6 weeks could be analyzed. No changes were found in C21 steroids, and a slight increase in androgens occurred after the discontinuation of smoking. CONCLUSION: Chronic smoking causes hyperandrogenism in fertile women; after smoking discontinuation, it increases further. Longer-term monitoring is necessary to show the effect of smoking discontinuation on steroid spectrum.