C-REACTIVE PROTEIN LEVEL IN PLASMA OF PAT IENTS WITH A HIGH-CONCENTRATION OF ESTROGEN

The monitoring of inflammatory activity in patients with a high level of estrogen is controversial because the significance of a raised estr adiol level on C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations is a debated qu estion. This prompted us to assay CRP by a sensitive Elisa in a sample of 30 patients with ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization, t hus with high levels of estradiol. For 15 of these women, six to nine plasma samples were analyzed allowing a kinetic study of plasma levels of CROP, estradiol and sex steroid-binding plasma protein (SBP). No s ignificant correlation was Sound between the concentrations of estradi ol and CRP for the 30 patients. In the kinetic study, as mean estradio l levels rose exponentially from 50 to 1400 ng/l between day 5 and 14, the CRP level tended to vary markedly from one patient to another and sometimes from day to day, but there was never any relation with estr adiol level. Furthermore, CRP did not significantly modify the slope o f the regression line between estradiol concentration and the day of t he menstrual cycle. In contrast, the effect of estradiol on SBP was cl ear, which supports the absence of estradiol effect on CRP level.