RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TUBERCULOSIS AND FEMALE HORMONE LEVELS IN POST-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Tuberculosis (TB) is an intracellular infection controlled by T-lymphocyte. After menopause, T-lymphocyte cells counts increase suggesting a possible link between T-lymphocyte cell counts and estrogen and progesterone levels. In this study we compared post-menopausal women with and without TB to determine any differences in estrogen and progesterone levels between the two groups. The study group consisted of 38 post-menapausal women hospitalized for TB at Dr Suat Seren Chest Diseases and Surgery Training and Research Hospital for Tuberculosis, in Izmir, Turkey. The control group consisted of 30 post-menopausal women without TB. Both groups were selected from patients without immunosuppressive diseases or malignancies in whom PPD testing was not contraindicated. The mean progesterone level in the control group was 0.3896 ± 0.2014 ng/ml and in the study group was 0.3607 ± 0.3006 ng/ml (p = 0.638). The mean estrogen level in the control group was 18.9873 ± 6.5332 pg/ml and in the study group was 26.2768 ± 14.3418 pg/ml; the difference was significant (p = 0.007). The body mass index in the study group was significantly (p = 0.034) lower than in the study group. In post-menopausal women, the mean estrogen level was significantly higher in participants with TB than those without TB.