RESUMO
In 31 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) the endocrine functions of the hypothalamus, the pituitary and several peripheral endocrine glands were assessed with a combined pituitary test; 3/31 patients had an endocrine disease: one primary hypothyroidism, one primary amenorrhea and one primary male hypogonadism. We found no patient with endocrine disease of the hypothalamus, the pituitary or the adrenals. However, the poststimulatory secretion of cortisol, growth hormone or thyroid-stimulating hormone was impaired in 7/31 patients, suggesting a possible preclinical endocrine insufficiency in these patients.
Assuntos
Doenças do Sistema Endócrino/fisiopatologia , Hormônio do Crescimento/uso terapêutico , Hidrocortisona/uso terapêutico , Esclerose Múltipla/tratamento farmacológico , Hormônios Liberadores de Hormônios Hipofisários/uso terapêutico , Adulto , Glicemia/análise , Glicemia/metabolismo , Doença Crônica , Doenças do Sistema Endócrino/etiologia , Feminino , Hormônio do Crescimento/análise , Hormônio do Crescimento/metabolismo , Humanos , Hidrocortisona/administração & dosagem , Hidrocortisona/análise , Hipoglicemia/sangue , Hipoglicemia/induzido quimicamente , Hipoglicemia/metabolismo , Masculino , Esclerose Múltipla/fisiopatologia , Doenças Ovarianas/etiologia , Doenças Ovarianas/patologia , Doenças Ovarianas/fisiopatologia , Hormônios Liberadores de Hormônios Hipofisários/análise , Hormônios Liberadores de Hormônios Hipofisários/metabolismo , Doenças Testiculares/etiologia , Doenças Testiculares/patologia , Doenças Testiculares/fisiopatologiaRESUMO
A characteristic feature of immunologic diseases is their association with each other. For multiple sclerosis (MS), several retrospective studies reported increased as well as expected coincidence rates with other immunologic diseases. We conducted a prospective case-control study of MS patients and healthy volunteers and found 13/101 MS patients and 2/97 controls with such diseases (P = 0.009, chi-square test), as well as 47/88 MS patients versus 31/95 controls with a variety of circulating autoantibodies (P = 0.004, chi-square test). These results speak for an increased coincidence of MS with other immunologic diseases and support the idea that MS is also an immunologic disease.
