DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i05.008

Pages: 1750-1757

Infertility is a major gynecological challenge for many women within the reproductive age and may arise as a result of hormonal dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the hormonal profile of infertile women in Bida metropolis, Niger State, Nigeria with a view to assess the contribution of certain endocrinopathies to infertility in the study population. Serum concentration of Leutinizing Hormone (LH), Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and Prolactin (PRL) were measured by the microwell enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique based on the non competitive sandwich principle, while Progesterone and Estradiol were measured based on competitive ELISA principle in 150 infertile women (test) and 50 fertile women (control). The serum LH, Estradiol and Progesterone levels were significantly lower (P<0.05) in the infertile group (10.2±3.1 mlu/ml, 80.0±10.6 pg/ml and 5.4±2.2 ng/ml, respectively) compared to the control group (46.3±2.3 mlu/ml, 176.6±15.8 pg/ml and 17.58±5.3 ng/ml, respectively). While serum Prolactin was significantly higher (P<0.05) in infertile group (29.6±10.3 ng/ml) than in the control group (16.2±9.2 ng/ml), the FSH level of infertile group (11.2±4.8 mlu/ml) was not significantly different (P>0.05) from that of the control group (10.4±3.7 mlu/ml). 16.7% of the infertile women studied had normal hormonal levels; the remaining 83.3% had abnormal hormonal pattern comprising of: hyperprolactinemia (6.7%), hyper gonadotropic hypogonadism (13.3%), isolated increase in Oestrogen (13.3%) and hyperprolactinemia/hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (20%). Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism was found to have the highest incidence (30%) of all the hormonal disorders recorded among the infertile women under study and was also found to coexist with hyperprolactinemia. This study underscores the clinical significance and contribution of these hormones during reproductive stage of life.