High prolactin and low dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate serum levels in patients with severe systemic sclerosis

The aim was to determine serum levels of prolactin (PRL) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), and to demonstrate a link between PRL or DHEAS and soluble immune mediators in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) with different degrees of disease-induced organ involvement. Thirty-one patients with SSc were studied to evaluate 18 possible disease manifestations. In the serum, PRL, DHEAS and soluble immune mediators were determined by ELISA. Compared to SSc with <9 disease manifestations, patients with > or =9 disease manifestations had higher PRL (P = 0.044), higher soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL-2R, P = 0.004) and vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM, P = 0.044), and lower DHEAS (P = 0.029). PRL (R(Rank) = 0.490, P = 0.003) and DHEAS (R(Rank) = -0.399, P = 0.013) were significantly correlated with the number of disease manifestations. The inverse correlation between PRL and DHEAS showed a trend (P = 0.059). PRL correlated with sIL-2R (R(Rank) = 0.553, P = 0.001) and sVCAM (R(Rank) = 0.520, P = 0.002). The number of disease manifestations and sIL-2R correlated significantly (R(Rank) = 0.463, P = 0.006). Psychometric variables to examine the presence of depression were not measured, but from the general aspect, the patients were not suffering from major depression which may have influenced our results. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the close association between DHEAS and, particularly, PRL and SSc severity and T-lymphocyte mechanisms.