DES-induced vascular risk

Immunogenicity of synthetic sex hormones and thrombogenesis, 1985

Study Abstract

The ingestion of synthetic steroidal and non-steroidal estrogens may induce antiestrogen antibodies in women on oral contraceptives, and in prostatic patients treated with diethylstilbestrol (DES). Natural sex hormones have no such effect.

A radioimmunoassay with tritiated ethinylestradiol or DES was applied to study the prevalence of synthetic sex hormone antibodies in 2 populations: 100 women on estroprogestative hormones and 93 cases of DES treated prostatic cancers. Homologous non-treated controls were compared.

Results allowed to identify among treated and asymptomatic subjects an immunoreactive population of 30% women and 47% men. Furthermore, the antibodies were found with a much higher frequency (p less than 0.001) in patients who had experienced a thromboembolic disease while on treatment: 90% of women and 74% of men.

The importance of these antibodies as a risk factor, their possible role in promoting vascular lesions, the interest of their detection for the prevention of the vascular risk induced by synthetic sex hormones, are considered.

References

DES DIETHYLSTILBESTROL RESOURCES

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