Estrogen, menstrual cycle phases, and psychopathology in women suffering from schizophrenia

Estrogen has been hypothesized to have a protective and antipsychotic-like effect in women at risk for schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between menstrual cycle and/or estrogen levels and psychotic symptoms in a sample of women with schizophrenia. One hundre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological medicine 2007-10, Vol.37 (10), p.1427-1436
Main Authors: BERGEMANN, NIELS, PARZER, PETER, RUNNEBAUM, BENNO, RESCH, FRANZ, MUNDT, CHRISTOPH
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale
Estrogens
Estrogens - blood
Estrogens - metabolism
Female
Follicle Stimulating Hormone - blood
Follicular Phase - physiology
Humans
Luteal Phase
Luteinizing Hormone - blood
Medical sciences
Menstrual cycle
Menstrual Cycle - physiology
Menstruation
Oestrogen
Progesterone - blood
Prolactin - blood
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychoses
Risk factors
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - epidemiology
Schizophrenia - metabolism
Schizophrenia - physiopathology
Schizophrenic Psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Symptoms
Testosterone - blood
Women
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Summary:Estrogen has been hypothesized to have a protective and antipsychotic-like effect in women at risk for schizophrenia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between menstrual cycle and/or estrogen levels and psychotic symptoms in a sample of women with schizophrenia. One hundred and twenty-five premenopausal women with schizophrenia and regular menses were examined. The levels of 17beta-estradiol and other hormones of the gonadal axis were assessed in the follicular, peri-ovulatory, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. The effects of the menstrual cycle phase and/or the estradiol level on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores were calculated by means of regression analyses. Significant improvement in psychotic, but not depressive, symptoms was observed during the luteal phase, compared with other days of the menstrual cycle. The present findings indicate that estradiol may have specific antipsychotic-like effects on the symptoms of schizophrenia. Thus further investigation into the therapeutic effect of estrogen may be worthwhile.
ISSN:0033-2917
1469-8978
DOI:10.1017/S0033291707000578