[SHBG serum level in women with endometriosis before, during and after long-term danazol therapy]

Ten patients with endometriosis, aged from 21 to 37 years, were treated with danazol at a dosage level of 200 mg three times daily for 6 months. Three blood samples were drawn 60 min apart for evaluation of the sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), before danazol administration (4th day of the cycle), during the last two weeks of the six-month therapy and three months after the cessation of treatment (4th day of the cycle). In contrast to that, SHBG levels were also evaluated in ten normal women, aged 21-37 years (4th day of the cycle). It was found that: a) SHGB values were significantly higher in patients with endometriosis than in the control group (p < 0.01), b) danazol resulted in significant decrease of SHBG levels (p < 0.001), c) there was no correlation between SHBG levels before and during danazol administration, and d) SHBG levels were significantly lower three months after the cessation of danazol than before the administration of the medication (p < 0.05), while these levels were not significantly different, compared with those of normal women. Our results support the view, that SHBG production disturbances might interfere with the possible pathogenetic mechanisms of infertility observed in endometriosis.