Plasma c-AMP during the normal menstrual cycle and under different hormonal treatment

There is a highly significant difference between the plasma c-AMP value of the first and the second half of the normal menstrual cycle (days 1-12: 10.5 +/- 2.0 pmol, x +/- SEM; days 13-16: 21.9 +/- 4.5; days 17-28: 19.9 +/- 2.0; p less than 0.001). In amenorrheic patients plasma c-AMP levels were nearly the same as in normal women during the first half of the menstrual cycle (11.1 +/- 2.5). Plasma c-AMP of amenorrheic women was significantly higher under HMG treatment (16.7 +/- 2.5; p less than 0.01). Under oral contraception with estrogens (alone) or with low doses of gestagens the plasma c-AMP values were comparable to those of the amenorrheic women, but there was a dose-dependent increase of plasma c-AMP under gestagen application. It is concluded that the midcyclic plasma c-AMP increase is mainly caused by the gonadotropin effect, and is followed by the progesterone effect during the second half of the menstrual cycle. Therefore, plasma c-AMP levels are in accordance to the stages of the menstrual cycle reflecting their different endocrine pattern.