Sex hormones in postmenopausal women with primary biliary cirrhosis.

To evaluate serum sex hormone profiles in nonalcoholic postmenopausal women with liver disease, 25 women with primary biliary cirrhosis (11 in cirrhotic stage) and 46 healthy controls were studied. The patients had significantly (p less than 0.05) elevated serum concentrations of estrone and androstenedione and significantly (p less than 0.05) lower concentrations of estrone sulfate, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone compared with the 46 controls. Serum concentrations of sex hormone binding globulin, testosterone, non-sex hormone binding globulin-bound testosterone and non-protein-bound testosterone did not differ significantly (p greater than 0.05) between primary biliary cirrhosis patients and controls. Patients in the cirrhotic stage had significantly (p less than 0.05) higher concentrations of sex hormone binding globulin than did controls. Patients in the cirrhotic stage had significantly (p less than 0.05) higher sex hormone binding globulin and estrone sulfate levels compared with noncirrhotic patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Otherwise, no significant differences were observed between cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients. The observed changes in steroid concentrations may be a consequence of hepatic dysfunction.