[Pathogenesis of the climacteric syndrome]

In order to study the pathogenesis of climacteric syndrome, several experiments were carried out. The following results were found: (1) In 79 patients there were significant abnormal changes of nailfold microcirculation and vegetative nervous function. (2) Blood serotonin levels in 10 oophorectomized women were lower than those in the controls (P less than 0.05). (3)The plasma B-endorphin levels in 15 patients and the anti-B-endorphin antibody concentration in 19 patients with climacteric syndrome were also lower than those in the controls (P less than 0.01). These results suggest that the changes of serotonin and B-endorphin and its antibody in peripheral blood were perhaps related to the dysfunction of the vegetative nervous system and nailfold microcirculation, leading to the clinical symptoms in menopausal patients.