Normal estrogen, but low dehydroepiandrosterone levels, in women with pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex. A preliminary study.

Rationale: For unclear reasons, the phenotypical hosts for nontuberculous mycobacterial lung infection are often thin, elderly, white women without underlying lung disease. As these women are usually postmenopausal, we hypothesized that a state of relative hormone deficiency may predispose some women to pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infection.

Objectives: To conduct a prospective cross-sectional study to assess for alterations in systemic levels of sex hormones in patients with confirmed pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex infection compared with healthy control subjects.