Baseline and Corticotropin-Stimulated Blood Steroid Profiles in Women of Reproductive Age in India: A Cross-Sectional Study and Global Literature Review.

Introduction: Corticotropin (adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH))-stimulated blood steroid profile is useful in the diagnosis of rare adrenal disorders but their utility is limited due to lack of assay- and population-specific reference ranges. Hence, we conducted this study to establish the reference ranges for basal and ACTH-stimulated blood steroid profiles in Indian women of reproductive age.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 30 apparently healthy female volunteers aged 18-40 years. Blood samples were collected during the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle at baseline and 60 minutes after intramuscular administration of 250 µg of ACTH 1-24. Serum steroid levels were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Results: After ACTH stimulation, 11-deoxycorticosterone (24.8±19.4 ng/dl from 2.44±0.8 ng/dl, 10.16-fold), corticosterone (from 226.0±184.0 to 2159.0±779.0 ng/dl, 9.55-fold) and 11-deoxycortisol (from 47.4±52.4 to 344.7±246.0 ng/dl, 7.28-fold) demonstrated greater than seven-fold elevation whereas 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (from 38.0±39.0 ng/dl to 129.0±75.0 ng/dl, 3.39-fold), dehydroepiandrosterone (from 340.0±221.8 to 998.0±580 ng/dl, 2.94-fold), cortisol (from 10.90±3.80 to 24.72±4.46 µg/dl, 2.27-fold) and aldosterone (from 6.65±5.19 to 13.88±8.11 ng/dl, 2.09-fold) showed 2-3.5-fold elevation.

Conclusions: This study presents reference ranges for baseline and ACTH-stimulated steroid panels in Asian Indian women of reproductive age and summarises the available blood steroid profiles for reproductive-age women from the literature.