• Wenhong Ma, Zhongping Zhan, Xiaoyan Liang, Jianhui Chen, Xingfang Huang, and Caiyun Liao.
• 1 The Sixth Affiliated Hospitals of Sun Yat-sen University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, China .
• J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2013 Dec 1; 22 (12): 1023-7.

BackgroundDisease activity is a major factor in menstrual disorders in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients not receiving alkylating therapy. However, the ovarian reserve of SLE women with normal menstruation is still unclear.MethodsTwenty-three SLE patients naïve to cytotoxic agents (SLE group) and nineteen SLE patients receiving current or previous cyclophosphamide (CTX) therapy (without other cytotoxic agents; SLE-CTX group) were enrolled. Twenty-one age-matched healthy women served as controls. All patients and controls had a regular menstrual cycle. Basal hormone levels, including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), and antral follicle count (AFC) were analyzed in the two study groups and compared with the control group.ResultsNo significant differences were found between the SLE, SLE-CTX, and control groups in age, body mass index (BMI), and basal FSH and LH levels. The E2 (P=0.023) levels were high and the AMH (P=0.000) values and AFC (P=0.001) were significantly lower in the SLE and SLE-CTX groups compared to control. However, these values were similar between the SLE and SLE-CTX groups.ConclusionSLE patients not receiving alkylating therapy who had normal menstruation and short illness duration still had an impaired ovarian reserve.

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