[Endocrine parameters of the menstrual cycle in a Cameroon woman]

The endocrine parameters of the menstrual cycle in the plasma of 179 women around the age of 26 with regular cycles were measured. These women were of normal height and weight and had no pathological findings. The Foundation for Hormone Research carried out measurements of the levels of steroids and pituitary hormones. In this way the levels of European women who where mainly French could be compared with those of Cameroonian women. The results obtained were calculated according to the time of the cycle and were associated with the LH peak when this could be determined. The hormone profiles of Cameroonian women are classical, but estrone and estradiol are more raised throughout the cycle, whereas the gonadotrophins are more raised just pre-ovulatory. This study is the first that has been carried out in Equatorial Africa and will serve as a base for combating infertility, which is now a public health problem in these countries.