[Concentration of dihydroepiandrosterone, dihydroepiandrosterone sulphate and testosterone during premature menopause in women chronically exposed to carbon disulfide].

The authors examined clinically 1710 women. They were split into two groups depending on the type of work performed. Group I (mean age = 37.3 years; average employment period = 26.2 years) was not exposed to carbon disulfide. The incidence of premature menopause in this group was 8.05%. Group II (n = 717; mean age = 38.3 years; average employment period = 25.6 years) was exposed to CS2 concentration in the air ranging from 9.36 to 23.4 mg/m3. In this group 119 women (16.5%) showed symptoms of premature menopause. Concentration of androgens in serum was determined using radioimmunoassay. It was found that women chronically exposed to carbon disulfide had significantly lowered values for dihydroepiandrosterone sulphate (p < 0.001), total testosterone (p < 0.01) and free testosterone (p < 0.01) when compared with the controls. No difference was found in the concentration of dihydroepiandrosterone.