Diurnal variations in the levels of progesterone during late pregnancy

ABSTRACT

Progesterone is a C-21 steroid hormone, plays a major role in the occurrence, maintenance and termination of pregnancy. To study the diurnal variations in the levels of progesterone at the start and end of the day during late pregnancy in women having different life set ups. Experimental and Observational Study. This study was conducted at the Department of Gynae and Obs., Khyber Medical College, Peshawar. Blood samples of 50 women between 26-40 weeks of gestation were collected at two different intervals with a gap of 12 hours. Progesterone level was estimated by Serozyme EIA method. The concentration of progesterone was found low in the early morning and high in the late evening in our population. Besides, the magnitude of fluctuations in the samples of two different intervals declined with progress of age and weeks of gestation. Our findings support the recommendation of restricting progesterone measurements to morning hours at all ages particularly during late pregnancy which is important information for clinicians at the time of interpretation of results: