Plasma estrone, prolactin, neurophysin, and sex steroid-binding globulin in chronic alcoholic men

The feminization frequently observed in men with alcoholic liver disease has not been satisfactorily explained by existing reports. We have measured plasma estrone, prolactin, estrogen-stimulated neuorphysin, and sex steroid-binding globulin concentrations in 50 men with chronic alcoholism and varying degrees of alcoholic liver disease in an effort to further elucidate possible hormonal mechanisms responsible for the observed feminization. Plasma concentrations of each of these parameters were at least two-fold elevated (p smaller than or equal to 0.01) when compared to values obtained for the same steroid or protein in plasma obtained from normal men. The plasma concentrations of estrone and prolactin in men studied with synecomastia were significantly greater (p smaller than or equal to 0.01 and p smaller than or equal to 0.05, respectively) than were the concentrations of these two hormones in those without this physical sign. Similarly, those men with spider angiomata had significantly greater (p smaller than or equal to 0.01) plasma estrone levels than did the men without this cutaneous vascular abnormality. These significant hormone elevations may contribute to the pathogenesis of feminization so frequently observed in chronic alcoholic men.