Clinical Correlation between Hyperandrogenism, Serum TSH Levels, and Hirsutism in Women: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Case-Control Study in Basrah, Iraq
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1530-5501
Ammar Kh. Shihab
Abstract
Background: Hirsutism is a common clinical sign of endocrine dysfunction in females.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between serum Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Testosterone, DHEA-S levels and degree of hirsutism among Basrah women, Iraq.
Methods: The study included a total of 150 subjects (100 females with clinically confirmed hirsutism and 50 healthy controls). The severity of hirsutism was assessed by the Modified Ferriman-Gallwey (mFG) score. Serum TSH, Testosterone and DHEA-S were determined by using Electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) technology. Endocrine tumors, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Cushing’s syndrome and hormonal medications were exclusion criteria.
Results: The hirsutism group had a significantly higher mFG score (17.5 ± 1.8 vs. 5.5 ± 1.5; P < 0·001), indicating that as follicular density increases, hirsutism scores rise accordingly. Patients with hirsutism had significantly higher levels of testosterone (P < 0.001) and DHEA-S (P = 0.002), as measured via hormonal analysis. Using correlation analysis, mFG scores were strongly positively associated with testosterone (r = 0.68; P < 0.001) and moderately positively correlated with DHEA-S (r = 0.48; P < 0.001). In particular, TSH had a weak inverse non-significant correlation with the severity of hirsutism (r = -0.14, P = 0.082).
Conclusion: Hirsutism in this population is driven by androgen excess rather than thyroid dysfunction. Assessment of the androgenic axis should be prioritized in diagnostic strategy: TSH assessment is an ancillary evaluation that should not be regarded as a first-line diagnostic for hirsutism.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Hirsutism, TSH, DHEA, mFG score, Primary hyperandrogenism, correlation analysis.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
YJMS publishes Open Access articles under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. If author(s) submit their manuscript for consideration by YJMS, they agree to have the CC BY license applied to their work, which means that it may be reused in any form provided that the author(s) and the journal are properly cited. Under this license, author(s) also preserve the right of reusing the content of their manuscript provided that they cite the YJMS.
