Effect of hormone replacement therapy on spinal bone mineral density and T lymphocyte subsets in premature ovarian failure and Turner's syndrome.

Objective: Our purpose was to evaluate the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on bone metabolism and the immunological change in premature ovarian failure (POF) and Turner's syndrome.

Method: The study was conducted on 17 POF patients, 10 Turner's syndrome patients and 35 control subjects aged 20-40 years. Bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar vertebra by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, serum bone metabolic parameters and T lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood were investigated.

Result: The untreated and treated patients of POF (0.829 +/- 0.077, 0.918 +/- 0.094 g/cm2) and the untreated and treated patients of Turner's syndrome (0.647 +/- 0.037, 0.885 +/- 0.148 g/cm2) showed spinal osteopenia compared with the control group (1.039 +/- 0.107 g/cm2). They showed a significantly lower percentage of CD4 and a ratio of CD4/CD8 in T lymphocytes as compared with the control group before HRT.

Conclusion: POF and Turner's syndrome patients showed marked spinal osteopenia and abnormal T lymphocytes subsets. HRT slightly improved their BMD and immunological status.