[ association of maternal androgen levels with nausea and vomiting in normal pregnancies]

The objective of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that levels of maternal androgens, including testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate [DHEAS], were associated with nausea and vomiting in normal pregnancies. A prospective study was performed. One hundred and forty pregnant women in their 12th week of pregnancy entered the study. One hundred and twenty one women were visited for a second time at follow-up, 61 had nausea and vomiting of pregnancy and 60 without nausea and vomiting. Maternal levels of testosterone and DHEAS were measured at both visits. Statistical analyses were performed utilizing t-test and correlation. Mean levels of testosterone and DHEAS were significantly higher in women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy than women without nausea and vomiting at the 12[th] week of pregnancy [p<0.001, p<0.05, respectively]. Also, in the 28[th] week of pregnancy, mean testosterone and DHEAS levels were significantly higher in women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy than women without nausea and vomiting [p<0.001, p<0.05, respectively]. There was no relationship between the severity of emesis and levels of testosterone or DHEAS at 12[th] or 28[th] week of pregnancy. Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy are associated with increasing levels of maternal androgens, including testosterone and DHEAS, during the 12[th] and 28[th] week of pregnancy