Erythropoietin, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 during the normal menstrual cycle

Abstract

Objective: Menstruation and ovulation are the main events during the menstrual cycle. Menstruation may influence the complete blood count because of its blood loss. Since ovulation is an inflammatory-like phenomenon, white blood cell count may change during ovulation. For these reasons, we have investigated the complete blood count and peripheral serum concentrations of associated cytokines during the normal menstrual cycle. Materials and methods: Normal healthy female volunteers ( N = 9; age, 21–33 years) with menstrual cycles of 25–33 days recorded basal body temperature every day and venous blood samples were collected three times per week. Complete blood count was performed and erythropoietin, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6 and hormones (FSH, LH, estradiol and progesterone) were measured. Results: The red blood cell, total white blood cell, granulocyte and platelet counts showed no statistically significant changes during the menstrual cycle when using analysis of variance with the Scheffe F-test. No changes in erythropoietin, interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 were seen throughout the menstrual cycle. In contrast, serum granulocyte-colony stimulating factor concentrations increased significantly to 28.0 ± 3.1 pg/ml (mean ± S.E.M.) during the ovulatory phase, compared to 10.7 ± 0.6 pg/ml in other phases. Conclusion: These results indicate that menstrual blood loss does not affect the complete blood count and suggest that granulocyte-colony stimulating factor plays an important role in the mechanism of ovulation.