Menstrual irregularities and related plasma hormone levels in multiple sclerosis patients treated with beta interferone.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of central nervous system.Women are more susceptible to this disease. One of the obvious clinical complaints in women with multiple sclerosis specially treated with Beta Interferones is menstrual cycle irregularity. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of menstrual irregularities and probable changes in blood levels of related hormones (FSH, LH, PRL, TSH, T4, T3) in 58 females with definite MS treated with beta interferones versus 58 healthy women. In comparison to the control group, the patients had higher prevalence of irregular menstruation (P=0.001), oligomenorrhea (p=0.03), abnormal amount of menstrual blood flow (P=0.001), abnormal duration of menstrual flow (P=0.01) and missed period (P=0.04). Mean LH level in patients group was higher than control group (P=0.04). Hyperprolactinemia (>25.5 ng/ml) was more prevalent in patients group. There were not a significant difference in plasma levels of FSH and thyroid hormones between two groups. There were some relations between the type of Beta interferones and the subtype of menstrual irregularities in the patients. In conclusion, the results of this study emphasized the high rate of menstrual problem and changes of related plasma hormone levels in MS patients.